Switched
by SyberSweetHeart
Summary: Once again the lives of Fairy Tail mages are interrupted- but the problem is Lucy and Natsu have switched bodies! Oh boy, this is bound to cause problems…
1. Her Day Off

Copyright: I have in no way, shape, or form any ability to possess the awesomeness that is Fairy Tail. All hail Hiro Mashima!

**Switched**

**Chapter 1: Her Day Off**

_**This was supposed to be her day off.**_

Her finger twitched as she woke up.

_**This was supposed to be her well-earned break from all the chaos at the guild and the stressful missions she'd had all week.**_

She rubbed her forehead tiredly. Her only concern was the time of day and why what she was lying on didn't feel like her bed.

_**This was supposed to be her day of relaxation. She even had the perfect book picked out! One she planned to read all day, alone in the comfort of her snuggly apartment.**_

But as consciousness returned, she felt something was off…

…_**But of course, being apart of the Fairy Tail guild meant that unexpected things happened every day. VERY unexpected things…**_

She cracked open an eye and expected to see her body. Which she _did_ but strange enough...

_Uh oh..._

...it was lying _under_ her.

...

"WHAT THE HELL?"

* * *

><p>Lucy Heartfilia was propped on her favorite cushioned chair, reading her newest romance novel. The blonde was unaware that her eyes looked like ping-pong balls bouncing across each page. She involuntarily leaned into the book as the story progressed. The more she read the more entranced she became in the pages and leaned forward with anticipation. <em>Here it comes!<em> _The lovers' fateful meeting! _A smile danced on her lips.

…_**under the cloud of stars above, her boat finally laid rest on the dock. She eased herself gently out of the boat and a cool ocean breeze lifted her hair. Her amber locks danced and shined, radiant with the moonlight.**_

_**Not far off, her admirer gazed. He watched her step down to the land with angelic grace. At that moment love over took him. Just as his goddess missed her step, he was there to break her fall! Her olive orbs met his and in that instant feelings overpowered them both as she-**_

"Yo!"

Lucy squealed and nearly jumped out her seat. Realizing she almost flung her precious novel sky-high, she wanted to find the source of her disarray. The blond barely avoided whiplash from how quickly she turned to see the certain _someone_ crouched in her window. He appeared unfazed by her scream and grinned like it wasn't at all caused by his sudden intrusion. Oh no, she just screamed bloody murder because she felt like it. Putting sarcasm aside, she just wanted to slap that child-like grin off his face…

…but instead slammed the book shut and settled with throwing the hardcover weapon straight for the intruder's head. And she was a good shot.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Natsu complained as he rubbed his swelling forehead with watery eyes. He didn't think he had done anything wrong. Seeing her get so startled made him figure that the book she was reading must've scared her enough to make her scream.

She ignored his whimpers and stood up to his chest to jab her finger at him, threatening to push him out the window (he had to grab hold to the walls to keep from falling). "_That…_," she poked again, "was for breaking into my room! And _I…_," another poke "was in the middle of a great book! You scared me!" she flared.

"Oh?" was his genius response but when she literally _growled_ at him, he changed his answer. "I-I mean, my bad," he mumbled still rubbing his head. She glared daggers at him until she was satisfied with the look of fear he gave her. Nonchalantly, she retrieved her book from where it fell on the bed and returned to her domain.

"Hey, Lucy," he recovered quickly. She noticed he had settled onto her bed and sat cross-legged, wearing his signature grin once again.

"What is it?" she asked bitterly while trying to find her lost page, regretting she misplaced it for shooting practice.

"I've got somethin' to tell you!" he smirked, grinning like an idiot. He leaned in to add effect to his next line. "And you're gonna love it! I promise!"

Like a cat, her ears perked up in interest but she kept her cool demeanor. She smiled inwardly with curiosity though, considering it was maybe something she'd really like. "And what would that be?" she hummed.

"Well..." he chuckled, "We should hang out!"

She deadpanned. "Huh?"

"Let's do something fun!" he repeated excitedly and jumped eagerly to his feet. "Then I'll tell you, alright? C'mon, let's go to the guild-!"

Lucy considered the idea for a moment. Maybe there was some exciting news that he had or perhaps he wanted to give her something...like a present! She let ideas float around in her head and smiled dreamily with eagerness.

"-so I can tell Erza and Gray about it too!"

And like a flash lightning her excitement diminished to a microscopic size and vanished. Now she was only thinking one thing: _Another mission._ She shook her head in irritation and redirected her focus to her book page. "Um… yeah, I think I'll pass." Suddenly Natsu's face displayed pure comical surprise. "Hey, don't act like you didn't consider that could be my answer!"

He frowned. "Aw but...I was sure you'd say yes..." He looked off distantly as if reforming a plan. Then after a moment or so his usual look of determination returned. "C'mon, Lucy! Please?"

_Sigh._ "Natsu I-" She began but was interrupted by the sudden presence of a familiar blue talking cat.

"Did she say yes?" Happy chimed in, flying into the room and obviously unaware of how the conversation was going. Lucy blinked unamused at his timing but concluded that Happy was also in on Natsu's little surprise.

The pink haired boy crossed his arms confidently, "Don't worry. She was about to change her mind."

"No, I wasn't!"

"Does that mean she said no?" Happy asked curiously but with hints of disappointment.

_Sigh...again!_ Lucy decided she could only tell the poor cat the truth," Ye-" but she was interrupted by chuckling laughter.

"No! She was just kidding, Happy!" Natsu patted his companion's head in assurance. "There's no way she's gonna miss out on it! We won't let her!"

"But I-"

Happy cheered up immediately, "Aye! Something _really _exciting is going to happen, Lucy!"

"That's great but-"

"Yeah! We can't wait to show it to you!" Natsu gave her a thumbs-up. "It's gonna be awesome!"

"No I'm not-"

"It's a good thing she was just joking earlier. Lucy's pretty weird."

"Hey! Stupid cat I'm gonna!-"

"Yeah, weirdo."

"UGH!"

Lucy sighed deeply and almost slammed her head on the table in frustration. She was going to have to break it down for them. "Look, Natsu, actually _this_ is supposed to be my day off," she said gently, not wanting to hurt his feelings too bad. But she had to get him to understand that all she wanted to do was rest! _And alone!_ "We've been on so many missions lately, I just want to stay home and relax," she went on. Lucy watched Natsu's blank expression as he seemed to be processing her words, and she hoped it meant he was beginning to understand what she was trying to say.

Returning from thought, he gave a weak smile, "Yeah, I know that, Lucy. I just thought..." his mind wandered to what he imagined her expression to be when he revealed the surprise. He knew that she'd love it. "I just thought you'd really like this," he voiced, with the delivery of his line slightly inaudible as his mind was elsewhere.

Upon wondering what she'd say to the surprise he missed a bit of what Lucy said, but caught "...besides, you can go on the mission without me if you really want to."

He stared at her, confused and almost...hurt. "But it's not-"

"With all the towns you destroy I should be thankful I can even afford a day off, so I'm sorry, Natsu, I'm taking it." Lucy finished, reentering the world of her book and waiting for him to leave. It felt like a few minutes before he said anything or even moved. Instead his answer was a soft defeated sigh and both he and Happy slowly made their way to the window, much to her relief. Natsu took his position to jump out and after a moment she could still feel his presence. When she looked up it was too late. On cue he jumped out without a word. She frowned and bit her thumb nail. _I didn't mean to make him that upset..._

With a face of defeat she was about to continue reading solemnly when she heard a noise outside and spun her head back to her window. Her eyebrows furrowed. He was still there, probably on the side of the building. "What was that, Natsu?" she called for him to repeat whatever he'd said. Then after a moment she heard...

"Cranky!" Two voices rang from the sky as they zipped away. The blond watched them fly off and huffed angrily.

After the brief annoyance, her feeling of guilt returned but she tried to ignore it. Deciding to reason with herself, she believed that she disserved this day off and it wasn't fair of Natsu to come and try to ruin it for her. They had been on a mission _every _day of that week, and she recalled that they only made enough money that was worth the total of two missions. And the rest was used to pay for damages. Thank goodness she had been saving her shopping money (and avoided the beautiful clothing stores in the last town with all her willpower). Now she had made just enough to pay her rent on time. No thanks to Natsu or the others. She deserved so much more than a single day off!

She nodded furiously, agreeing with herself, but another thought hit her. She mused. It wasn't like it was Natsu's intention to ruin her day at all. He probably had something really fun planned... He was being Natsu and that just was the way he was. Kind, considerate...overall he was just being a great friend...and she wouldn't even hang out with him. Lucy sighed sadly and hung her head. She wasn't winning her mental fight over who was justified in this so she instead forced herself to continue reading her book as a distraction. Her smile returned faintly as she scanned the page. _I almost forgot I was at the best part._

_**Just as his goddess missed her step, he was there to break her fall! Her olive orbs met his and in that instant feelings overpowered them both as she-**_

_Here it comes!_

_**she slapped him in the face for being so straight forward and trying to kiss her. Her angelic image was shattered to reveal the spoiled rich girl she truly was and he forever lost any chance of being with her.**_

_**The End.**_

"..."

Lucy had no regrets of throwing the book at Natsu before. She only regretted picking it back up. So in one sharp move the book was chucked out the window with a "Piece of garbage lame-ass book!" She stomped over to her desk, snatched up her keys, and then enjoyed the ring of the door slamming behind her as she left her apartment. Now what she really regretted was not following Natsu.

Whatever he wanted to show her had to be a hundred times better than that pitiful waste of paper and ink.

* * *

><p><strong>SyberSweetHeart was casually walking down the street when a book crashed down on her now bloody skull. She examined the book and her face lost all life when she read the ending. "PIECE OF GARBAGE LAME-ASS BOOK!" She then chucked it at the readers. "Review or I'll write more of this crap!"<strong>

**Just kidding!**


	2. Which is better?

Copyright: I have in no way shape or form any ability to possess the awesomeness that is Fairy Tail. All hail Hiro Mashima!

**Switched**

**Chapter 2: Which is better?**

The only thing that Lucy could think of on the walk to the guild hall was how she could apologize to Natsu. She had to admit, what she said had to sound selfish to anyone's ears. Even Happy had to witness it, but Lucy wasn't really concerned about the cat's thoughts as she did the fire wizard's. Especially since he was the one offering this fun-awesome-whatever thing she was supposed to love.

She used the time walking to the guild to evaluate her actions…and at every conclusion, she was indeed guilty of being a sucky friend. It felt like she had just kicked a poor little puppy for absolutely no reason- and Natsu got the boot. Sure, she originally wanted to spend her short vacation relaxing at home but she had already spent a good seventeen years of her life relaxing as a spoiled rich girl, with the ability to get any item she could dream of from the power of her father's wallet- and that made her sicker than anything. She tried so many times to imagine herself on the outside of her family's mansion, living the life of a normal child. It was when she was a teenager, already all too used to the life of a rich girl, that she made the choice to run away. Sure, she was afraid to finally start life alone; however she still did it. She did it to be free from her father's grasp, to go on adventures, to live a life she always wanted… And now she was here, living on her own paycheck, a part of an amazing guild, and living with the family she never had.

She sighed happily, "I never would've thought this day would bring back so many memories..." Not memories of her past life...but how she felt when she finally left it behind. Free.

* * *

><p>When Lucy reached the front doors of the guild she felt more pumped than ever to go on a mission. She knew she would still have to apologize to Natsu, but hoped he would be too excited to go on the mission to even try to get back at her for being wrong. At least she hoped he was that mature…Upon finding the nerve to finally enter the guild, Lucy began searching for the certain salmon-haired wizard. And to her disappointment (for all her preparation put to waste) she immediately noticed the lack of a fire dragon slayer. With a pout she surveyed the room. Other than there being no Natsu she also noticed that the groups of mages in the large room were relatively quiet compared to the normal (and frequent) commotion of Fairy Tail. And what was a Fairy Tail bar without some fights to excite and entertain?<p>

Suddenly feeling less excited to be there Lucy spiritlessly made her way to the bar where she spotted a smaller group of her friends consisting of Gray, Mirajane, and Happy. "Hey guys." Lucy said while taking her seat. The others welcomed her but Mirajane had to serve some more guild-mates and couldn't stay, leaving Lucy with the rest of her team- minus Erza and Natsu. At the thought of the guy's absence she tried to figure out where he could be. She believed she was right to assume that he would go straight to the guild from her apartment, but apparently not. Although, since the guild was like a second home to him, she hoped that he would eventually show.

"So Gray, what's up?" Lucy asked while taking a sip of the drink Mira kindly left her. She decided to focus on her friends that were present.

He simply shrugged. "Not much, I'm waiting for that fire-breather to come back." The ice wizard made a fist over his cup and dropped in a few more ice cubes. "He said something like 'gotta get Erza for a mission' or something like that." He gulped down the rest of the drink. "…I doubt it's a good, well-paying mission though."

Lucy looked curiously at that last statement. "Hmm? Why's that?" Lucy wondered.

Happy took a mouthful of fish from his bag and spoke in a semi-understandable manner. "Behcusze dere rn't meny dobz mnow." Lucy face dropped at his lack of manners. _Well he is a cat after all, and it's not like Natsu would teach him any._

Gray nodded in agreement. "Yeah, like he said. There are so many people out on jobs right now, it's tough to snag one before all the good ones are taken," he commented before making more ice cubes for his drink he started crunching down in his next gulp.

Lucy eyed him, "...is there anything liquid in that cup, Gray?"

"Nope." He continued to crunch away in content while Happy chewed hungrily at a fish; scales and all.

She sighed at her strange friends' antics. "You guys have the weirdest eating habits..."

* * *

><p>Some hours later, a certain dragon slayer re-entered the guild but this time with a cheek equally pink as his hair. Happy was the first to notice Natsu, and Lucy was still just as eager to see him. Natsu nonchalantly took a seat at the bar and Happy flew over, pointing at his friend's cheek. "Hey, what happened to you, Natsu? What's that?"<p>

He looked puzzled. "Huh? You mean my face? I've always had it."

"He means what happened to your cheek, moron," Gray retorted unamused, sitting next to the fire wizard.

"Hey, shuddup!" Natsu growled. "Always trying to start something with me…" he grumbled heatedly.

Lucy, just hearing the conversation, came over and sat down on his other side. "Anyway, go on, Natsu."

She still wanted to apologize but held her tongue. She wasn't about to kiss Natsu's feet in front of her friends. And plus she was also a bit curious about his pink cheek that was oddly in the shape of a hand.

"Oh heya, Lucy," He said in his usual friendly way.

Lucy tried to look for any hints of sarcasm in his tone but he was acting just as normal towards her as to the others. She wondered if he could have already forgotten about earlier or if he just didn't care anymore. But still something was a bit off when he saw her. He couldn't have forgotten it…for all she knew he was gone sulking this whole time…

"Yeah, well I guess Erza _did_ hit me pretty hard." He pouted in remembrance and in an off-handed sort of way said, "But it's not like I meant to walk in the girl's bath."

Gray snorted at him, "That's what you get, pervert."

Natsu's fists collided with the counter, "Look who's talking, you pant-less Popsicle!"

Gray suddenly noticed his lack of clothing and panicked. "Crap!"

Natsu smirked in victory but returned back to what he was saying before that _jerk_ interrupted him. "Yeah, but I'm lucky to have gotten out with just this though." He considered. "All of the girls were pretty mad."

Lucy only nodded at the choice of punishment he received. "That's understandable." She agreed with her fellow (but non-present) females. "Who wouldn't be mad for that?"

Natsu noticed her siding with the girls. "Hey, well, Levy was okay about it… I think..." Natsu pondered for a moment. "Well, she wasn't _mad_ really..., but she made this squealing noise and ran away."

Lucy could've sworn she heard a growl emitting from another dragon slayer in the distance and more noticeably the said-girls team members were eyeing Natsu, their new rival, dangerously. Suddenly Elfman entered the group and on cue demanded a manly answer to his next question. "What kind of man are you, Natsu! Spying on a woman! For shame!" Lucy just rested her elbow on the table and watched the scene play out to her amusement.

At a nearby table Cana, who also overheard the conversation, finished her gallon of beer and wiped her mouth with an arm. "Puh-lease…," Cana waved him off. "What dude doesn't peek on girls, or at least wants to?"

Elfman continued to rant on about the values of a man to her but was basically ignored by the rest of the group who went on as if their guild mates hadn't interrupted. Lucy, already bored, decided to get the conversation back on track. "So, Natsu, did you convince Erza to go on the mission or not?" she asked absentmindedly.

He nodded happily. "Yep!"

Happy cheered while Gray looked skeptical and said, "Is that so? Then what's this so called mission you've been keeping secret?"

Natsu was about to speak until Mirajane decided to give Natsu an order of his favorite flaming foods. "One sec."

Lucy sighed crossly, eager to hear what so called mission she was supposed to be a part of. And Natsu was too busy gobbling his food to notice her watch him while impatiently tapping her index finger on the counter. "Jeez," she sighed and again put elbow on the counter. Gray was too busy chatting with Mira, and Happy had disappeared, leaving Lucy basically alone. She lit up though when she noticed a blue-haired girl enter the guild. Before she could wave Levy over, her team members jumped up and immediately crowded her. In unison they asked her questions regarding her well-being and she gently waved them off before approaching Lucy and the absentminded Natsu with no problem.

"Hi, Lu-chan!" she said happily and took a seat next to the blonde.

"Hey, Levy. So... how are you?" She whispered the second part cautiously.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" she asked and then noticed her friend pointing her thumb back to the distracted Natsu who was attacking a piece of fire chicken. "Oh, I'm fine. Now that I think about it, it was pretty funny. Anyway I came to see you! I brought a souvenir back from my last mission and I think you'll like it a lot!"

Lucy grinned and clapped her hands together excitedly. "Really? Can I see?"

"Yes, of course! I brought it with me! I have it right…" Levy looked to her side and after moment her face dropped. "…here?" And then she exploded into a panic. "Oh no! Where is it? I-I was sure I had it with me!" she then flipped Natsu's finished plate over (Lucy luckily caught it) and actually took Lucy's bag and dumped out its contents with no avail.

Lucy tried to assist the girl searching in vain. "Uh…maybe you left it at Fairy Hills? I'm sure it's not too far gone, Levy."

Levy agreed after looking around in anguish. "You're probably right, Lucy! But I absolutely need it back!" she began biting her thumb nail. "I-If it falls into the wrong hands…" She trailed off nervously and then bolted for the door and without a second thought yelled, "See you later, Lucy!"

Lucy waved her off (and the trail of dust Levy left floating in the air from her sprint). The blonde just hoped her friend would find whatever it was. And judging from Levy's heart attack, this "whatever it was" must've been valuable. _Maybe it really would be dangerous in the wrong hands... whatever it was._ She wished Levy would've at least told her what it was so she could help look for it...

Suddenly, Lucy noticed the sound of rustling from behind the counter. She leaned over, suspicious of the purring noise followed by "I found it!"

Lucy eyed him sharply. "Happy, what are you doing down there?" She already knew she wouldn't like his answer.

He didn't even look up as he hugged the item. "I found it! I found it! The pen!"

"...You're glad just because you found a pen?" Lucy asked unimpressed but still watched him apprehensively.

"Yeah, I want to write words and make them real like Levy does! I want to write a _huge_ 'FISH."

Lucy nearly laughed at the thought but swallowed it. "Happy, you know you can't do that with any ordinary pen, right?"

Happy snickered with a Cheshire grin, "This is no ordinary pen though…."

It took Lucy a moment to process what the weird cat was talking about before it clicked in her mind and within seconds she was suddenly pulling at the cat's cheeks. "I'VE TOLD YOU BEFORE NOT TO TAKE WHAT ISN'T YOURS, YOU CAT-BURGLAR!" She hissed, adding a few more tugs before snatching the pen out of his paws. "Now, go return it to Levy! She's busy enough without having to worry about where her magic items are! Now go!"

"Awww, Lucy, just one fish?"

"NO!"

Happy sadly took the pen back and dropped it in Levy's bag before flying away disappointed that he didn't get to write a single fish out before giving back the pen. Then he snickered. What Lucy didn't know wouldn't hurt her…

"DON'T USE IT!" a voice yelled after him as if the possessor could read his mind. He shivered and quickly flew out of the guild, afraid of what the girl was capable of.

Lucy let out a large breath and returned to a seat, far from Natsu and Gray who were now in another heated argument. She decided the better company to be Mirajane who was taking a break from serving the guild mates who weren't on missions. "Hiya, Lucy," Mira greeted as she rubbed a hand towel on a dish. "How's it going?"

"Not too great…" Lucy lazily let her head lie on the counter. "I can't believe the guild is so lively even with half the people gone. I'm already tired..." Her eyes then lit up with a curious thought. Actually, a question Mira would know the answer to, she hoped. "Hey, Mirajane, do you know why that is? Why the guild is more empty than usual?"

Mirajane smiled sweetly and said, "Well, I guess everyone needs to refill their pockets every once in a while."

Lucy sighed. "So you don't know either," she said blankly. "Gray said that it was hard to snag jobs lately."

Mira gestured to the request board quizzically. "There is a sudden group of people taking on jobs…I wonder why?"

Lucy looked even more worn down. "So you really don't know…" It seemed that just being in Fairy Tail seemed to wear her out.

"So, Lucy, didn't Natsu say something about "taking" you out for a mission?"

"Taking me out?" Lucy asked confused.

Mirajane winked and pointed her finger to her nose. "I bet its code for a date."

"Yeah, right," Lucy replied unamused and turned back to Natsu and called, "Hey, what was that mission you wanted to go on, Natsu?"

He looked back from his apparent argument furiously. "HEY, LUCY! WHO'S RIGHT ME OR GRAY?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Lucy quizzed.

"It's me obviously, you idiot!" Gray said angrily walking over with Natsu head-to-head.

"NO! Defiantly not, you ice cube!"

"Of course winter's the better time of year, stupid salamander!"

"Only in your dreams! Everyone likes summer the best!"

"It's way too hot, then!"

"Yeah, well we all freeze in the winter!"

"If you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen, hot-head!"

"Me? I was born in the heat! And besides that doesn't even make sense!"

"It means if you can't take the cold then leave!"

"That's the exact opposite of heat! And you were talking about a kitchen before!"

"Do you really want to fight about this? Huh, you stupid fire-breather?"

"Bring it on, ice pop!"

Lucy finally waved her hand to regain what little attention she had in the first place. "Uh, guys…I'm still here y'know..."

"That's right! Lucy, tell this stripper I'm right!" Natsu said hotly.

"Don't listen to that idiot!"

Lucy finally pushed the guys out from invading her personal space, silencing them. "Look, I just want to know what mission we're going on, OK?" She faced the dragon slayer in hopes of getting him to focus. "So what is it, Natsu?"

His eyes lit up, distracted with excitement, "Oh yeah! Well it's…" he then looked all around him. "Where's Happy?"

Lucy crossed her arms, remembering the thieving little cat. "Happy? I sent him to-"

"Hold that thought, Luce. First, I gotta go find him. I want him to hear this." And with that he turned to run out of the guild.

"Y'know I was just about to tell you where he is right?!" The celestial spirit mage shouted after him, but it was no use. He was already gone and now Lucy was left to wait for him to return _again_. With another sigh she decided to go back to the bar and chat with Mira until then...just hoping he would be back before dark.

* * *

><p>AN: Hey all! Sorry this chapter is up a bit later than you (and I) wanted. This past couple of weeks I've just been busy getting ready for a convention. It was this Memorial Day weekend and I had a blast! On Friday I was Gray and went to a photoshoot and there was a great Natsu cosplayer! Only one but he was REALLY lively! Like he was really FIRED UP TO BE THERE!

I actually didn't know he was going to the photoshoot but I saw him before in dealers room and geeked out. I was so nervous but I eventually got to take a picture with him. I don't know how that happened...

AND there were plenty of Lucys throughout the convention. And I chatted with and Erza in her Tower of Heaven Arc clothes (sadly I wasn't dressed as Gray but I was Ed from FMA). So yeah... and by the way the Natsu I met before was always with a Lucy...tehehe I think they were dating!


	3. Rule 1

Copyright: I have in no way shape or form any ability to possess the awesomeness that is Fairy Tail. All hail Hiro Mashima!

**Switched**

**Chapter 3: Rule 1**

"Ughhhhhhhh."

"Hmm? What is it, Lucy?" Mira asked as she walked by her friend while balancing a tower of dishes. The girl in front of her was collapsed on the counter and in a pitiful state. After a moment the distressed girl finally shot up with fists slamming on the hardwood, startling the waitress.

"I can't stand it, Mira! What's taking him so long?!" she wined. Natsu was over three hours late. That's three hours of her life gone…she could see it flying away from her and out the window…out where it was definitely passed sunset.

Mira smiled hopefully, "Well, when you see him again I'm sure he'll…um…give you a good explanation for-"

"Excuses," Lucy growled as if Erza's inner demon was a contagious disease that infected her. Mira twitched fearfully as a dark aura radiated from the blonde. This was probably the last straw for Lucy, Mira thought. Ever since Natsu left she was relatively patient…but now…

The elder girl forced a comforting smile in hopes of calming the girl down. All of the negative energy seemed too dangerous to get close to so she kept a safe distance. "L-Lucy…" Mira stuttered, "I'm sorry but I…uh…it's late and… it's time to close the guild and…"

"You don't need to tell me twice!" Lucy roared. She swiped up her purse and stomped away before craning her head back to Mira. Mira was shaking but Lucy's stone gaze quickly switched to a friendly smile. "Thanks for putting up with me today, Mira."

Mira's twitchy smile went unnoticed. "Y-you're w-welcome, Lucy!" The younger teen was then on her way and as the entrance doors shut Mira let out a tortured sigh and slumped over the table exhausted. "Oh, Natsu…I'm praying for you…"

* * *

><p>For once, when Lucy arrived at her apartment she was disappointed not to have found a pink haired boy lounging on her couch. Why, you may ask? Because the sooner she could confront Natsu the better. She was raging for a fight…which was a bit out of character for her. Sweet little ol' Lucy wanted to fight? Nonsense! But putting up with Natsu's immature attitude was enough to get her fired up. She couldn't stop thinking about it!<p>

_What could he have been doing all day? Fairy Hills was barely a few miles from the Guild! To get there and back wouldn't have taken more than half an hour! And there weren't even any stops on the way! Just to Fairy Hills and back! Was that so hard?_

Lucy prepared for bed with great haste, all while thinking angry thoughts about a certain team member of hers. She walked through her night-time routine in a haze, too distracted to focus on anything besides…_him_. She growled at the very thought of his name. She couldn't say it-or even think it- without exploding with a few ugly words. Just as she rolled into bed and reached to turn off her lamp she felt a familiar presence. One that she really disliked right now. And that presence soon became a living being that flew over her bed and landed swiftly on the floor.

"Hey, Lucy!" Natsu gave a friendly smile and his very presence (the chances of him literally being here, now), left her mind a total blank. She felt the anger settle inside her and quickly deflate.

"N-Natsu?" she tested the name on her lips to see if that was enough to spark her temper; but there was nothing.

_Why does he have this effect on me? I couldn't even hold a grudge long enough to let him know I was pissed at him just a few minutes ago?_

Stunned, Lucy calmly sat up and faced the guy who caused these crazy effects on her. She waited. She waited for something-some feeling to boil up but it was gone…Not that she wanted to be angry with him. She just _couldn't_ stay mad at him. There was just an uneasy feeling she had for him right now. And she couldn't put her thumb on what exactly it was.

"Hey…" she said, hesitantly. _Why does this always happen after I'm mad at him? I just can't hold a grudge to this guy. Or_ _maybe I just feel bad because I never had the chance to apologize to him for before…_

Not noticing her dilemma Natsu fished in his pocket, which created a crumpling noise. Then suddenly, he was able to produce a paper…a flyer for a request.

"Why are you here this late?" She finally asked, still dazed from her previous thoughts to notice the paper he took out. He grinned and quickly handed her the request. She eyed him and then skimmed over it curiously, reading the requirements and the pay. "Is this what you wanted to show me all day?" She looked over it again, and then one more time to make sure she was reading correctly. "I'm impressed. This job doesn't sound too difficult at all."

He quickly nodded. "Yep and- oh yeah!" Then, from out of nowhere, he pulled out a book.

It was a large dark blue book with a shiny metallic buckle keeping it sealed. The corners weren't bent like an old book would be and the cover looked clean, as if it was brand new. It radiated with its beautiful appearance, but with also (from what she could sense) magic. Lucy grasped the book carefully and examined it, flipping it over multiple times. There were no words written anywhere on the cover or pictures for that matter; just the smooth blue surface.

Lucy's eyes furrowed and Natsu watched her fiddle with the book before asking curiously, "What's wrong?"

Lucy kept looking, "It's just I've never seen a book like this before…"And then she thought, _it couldn't possibly be a gift from Natsu… could it?_ "Is this for me?" she asked hopefully.

Natsu nodded and when Lucy thanked him kindly for it he just shrugged. She then thought back to earlier that day. Maybe this was what Natsu had wanted to give to her this whole time…He and Happy said whatever it was she'd really like. Lucy smiled and Natsu watched her practically drool over the book. They knew she loved to read. And just by looking at this book she could tell it was special. It had a kind of warmth emitting from it that made her more curious of its contents. She blushed. It really was sweet of Natsu to give her this.

Natsu smirked, "Well, go on. Don't you want to see what's inside?"

Lucy grinned with excitement and undid the buckle encasing the book. As she opened it she felt a great flow of energy from it. This was one of the most interesting books she had ever seen in her whole life. She liked how it felt as she held it delicately in her hands. Natsu and Happy were right about one thing. She did love this gift. It felt like it was just meant for her! She didn't need to wait another minute because in seconds she was already scrolling down the first page. Then, suddenly, her eyes widened in surprise. "What the-?"

Natsu flopped next to her cross-legged on the bed and leaned over curiously. "What's the problem?" He thought Lucy loved all books.

She instead, however, was disappointed that she couldn't love the book to its full potential. "I can't read it. I don't recognize the text at all…" She didn't mean to make him feel bad but, couldn't he at least get her a book in her own language?

He snatched the book and his eyes narrowed as he flipped through the pages. In vain he looked for a single page written in English but there was none. "What a lame book!" He exclaimed and she sighed. She was looking forward to reading it… Natsu flipped all around but there was no trace of anything understandable. He then tossed the front cover back and examined the first page. "Well, let's just guess what it says then…"

Lucy sighed again. This was going to be good…

"Ogo yem gashter nopi ga…"

"Natsu, you sound ridiculous." She sighed for the third time. "Thanks for the book though. I still think it looks good at least_._"_ Maybe I could use it as a coaster..._

"Wait, wait, wait! Look here!" Natsu held the book up closer to his face and began reading with pride stinging his voice. "Within these pages lies the history of the great Natsu Dragneel, the best Dragon Slayer in the world!"

Lucy tried yanking the book back. "That's defiantly not what it says! Besides, how can someone write the 'History of Natsu Dragneel' if you're still alive?"

He tugged the book back towards him. "OK, OK, OK, but there really is something written here that I can read! Honest!" He pointed to the small gold lettering on the inside of the front cover to prove it and began to read.

**Within these pages lies great magical power that should only be tampered with by those who dare to continue reading. **

He snorted, unimpressed. "Psh, lame…"

"Hey keep reading!" she nudged him. Now that she could actually read the book she was excited again to see what it was about.

As her eyes glistened, he found his place and continued, even though he thought whatever story this was supposed to be was already the dumbest thing he'd ever heard.

**Those who find this book in their possession will not only come to enjoy this book but will soon hate it as well.**

They each rose eyebrows and exchanged glances, however kept going.

**The cover of this book the holder will find beautiful, and the contents shocking. To share this book will be a mistake for the lookers but a success for the author, whom you may never know unless the reader of this can complete the task within this binding.**

**Now readers…let's see what you make of the first chapter…**

Without warning the book began to radiate a scripture in the air, forming a magic circle, with both Lucy and Natsu sitting dead center.

"H-hey! What's going on?!" Lucy panicked. She had never expected that the magical power contained in the book was this strong. Her room quickly became a prison locking the huge magical energy within its walls. Still startled, the two could only watch as the magic circle was writing, powering itself to cast a spell.

Natsu was the first one to act. "C'mon!" He impulsively grabbed hold of Lucy's hand and bolted for the door but before he could reach it, he suddenly couldn't move. He was frozen in place. In shock he tried to run, breathe, blink, anything, but his body wasn't reacting.

On Lucy's end, she felt the same; a disconnection from her body, and she too couldn't move or speak. She didn't like the growing power of this book. They seemed to have unlocked some powerful magic but before Lucy could ponder anymore, she felt her insides panicking. Her brain, her mind was too being disconnected, and before she knew it she was seeing black…

* * *

><p>For hours the room was silent as the two occupants rested soundly. One of the two felt her finger twitch as she came to and noted the throbbing in her head. She rubbed her forehead tiredly and tried to focus. Her only concern was the time of day it was and why what she was lying on didn't feel like her bed.<p>

But as consciousness returned, she felt something was off. She cracked open an eye and expected to see her body. Which she did, but strange enough...

_Uh oh..._

...it was lying _under_ her.

...

"WHAT THE HELL?" She yelled to the heavens, but sparked a response from the other person lying on the ground in _her_ pink silky pajamas.

"What are you scream'n about?" The body under her rolled over a bit groggy and grouchy.

Lucy felt a vein pop in her head and pointed fiercely at her new face, "THIS IS WHAT I'M SCREAMING ABOUT, YOU IDIOT!"

It took a good minute of waking up (enforced by Lucy shaking his shoulders) for it to register for him. "Wait...Wha? How am I over there if I'm here? Lucy, is this some kind of prank?"

In frustration, Lucy slapped her forehead, well, his forehead, but hers, but it was really his, oh you get what I mean. "Look! Look at us! Oh my god, how is this even possible?" Lucy yelled in anguish. She wished this was all a bad dream; a terrible nightmare that she could wake up from if she pinched herself hard enough. And it was strange pinching arms that weren't her own.

"Yeah, look at this!" Natsu pointed his way. "I have-pfffffffffffffff- boobs!" He was rolling on the floor clutching his stomach from his laughing fit. He was gasping for air, howling with laughter, but it didn't last long, as Lucy kicked him with all her might…

…which she quickly regretted.

"GAAHHHH!" Natsu actually slid on the carpet. "THAT FREAK'N HURT, LUCY!"

Natsu sourly laid on the ground a few steps from his original spot in pain. Hesitantly he slightly lifted the pajama shirt he was now wearing to show a stinging bruise forming. He poked it and made a sour face.

"Sorry!" She stammered. She watched what was her body whining in pain. For a moment though, she was distracted from his injury. It was so odd seeing her own body lying on the floor in front of her. And then she remembered whose body she was now residing in. "That's right! I'm a lot stronger now!" She felt her own muscled arm. It was as hard as steel to her surprise. She wasn't excited about this, but it was, in a way, interesting.

"Yeah, and now I bruise too easily. _Great_," Natsu wined in Lucy's high-pitched voice. "Man, I'm strong...I just never knew what it felt like on the receiving end." he said while he cradled his aching side.

Lucy sat back down next to him and examined his side. "Are you OK?"

"Psh no, but whatever. He looked around the room awkwardly and then out the window. "Hey, it's already day time."

Lucy failed to notice the time before, so she spun around to the nearest clock on her nightstand. "It's an hour 'til noon." Lucy announced.

"OH, NO!" Natsu shot up from the floor, wobbled from the pain in his side, but remained standing. "I promised Erza we'd meet at the train station at 11:30." Then he doubled over and held his back, "Man, your boobs are heavy."

She looked horrified. "Natsu, are you kidding? We can't go out on a mission like this!" she said in his voice ignoring the comment on her breasts.

"What? Well we got to." He crossed his arms stubbornly. "I promised I would." Sadly for her she knew that Natsu didn't break promises.

"It won't work!" she said sharply. Just what was he thinking going out like this? They just couldn't! "Look, let's just try to get back to normal!" Lucy protested. There was no way she was going out in public like this. She couldn't even imagine letting _him_ go out like that.

It surprisingly took little effort to make Natsu agree with her. He had to pause for a moment and think about it. The choices were to go on the mission as they were, or face Erza's wrath and not show up at all. When he thought about it the answer was obvious if he wasn't stupid. But it was true that he was already tired of his wimpy new body. So he settled on facing Erza's wrath. _I bet she wouldn't be as hard on me if I'm in Lucy's body…_It was decided. "Yeah, let's find that stupid book."

Lucy got on all fours and began to search the floor, the last place she saw the book. "It's got to be around here somewhere…" she trailed off, "It's not like books just disappear into thin air." Although she wasn't sure the Laws of Physics applied to _magical_ books.

"Who would give something like that to a person anyway?" Natsu grumbled loud enough for Lucy to hear. "Worst gift ever if you ask me…"

She stopped dead in her tracks of searching. "Wait, Natsu, you're the one who gave me this book." She couldn't have dreamt it. She couldn't have. He was definitely the one who gave her the book! Him! Him! Him!

"Huh? Me?" Natsu looked insulted. "I would never give someone a dumb book like that. Look at all the trouble it caused!"

Lucy stood and then sat down on her bed, trying to piece together the situation. "Just hold on. I know for a fact that you gave me the book just last night!" She emphasized the last few words. "Don't you remember? It was your gift to me, right?"

In no time at all he said in her high pitched voice, "Nope, I didn't give it to you."

Now Lucy was really confused. "But… how would you even know what book I'm talking about if it wasn't you?" she said quickly.

Natsu continued in his efforts looking for the lost book and walked over the desk, not as confused as her. _What is she getting at?_ "I just passed it on from Happy."

"Happy?" she repeated unsure of what he meant.

"Yeah," he stated and stuck his head under the bed. "I think he said something about getting it from-" Lucy assumed he hit his head from loud noise she heard followed by wines from the floor. "Ouch…from Levy…I think."

"Levy?" She wondered. What did Levy have to do with all of this? "So you're saying Levy gave the book to Happy, who gave it to you, who gave it to me?"

Natsu made an annoyed sigh. "Sure, I guess so." He decided to look through her closet, uninterested in her personal investigation.

She didn't like the confusing story either but she wanted to figure out where this book came from in the first place. "Well then, I think we should talk to Levy. She could probably help us. She knows ancient texts."

"What about finding the book?" Natsu asked while holding up a pair of baby blue undies.

"Hey put those back!" Lucy said, cheeks hot, and sighed. "Anyway, I guess you're right. First of all, we need to find that book…"

Then suddenly, as if from the ceiling, a sheet of paper fell in front of the two. Lucy swiped it in midair it and read aloud what the gold lettering said.

**Welcome readers to the first chapter of this tale. Now you find yourselves not as you were and if you wish to have what's yours returned, you must find all of the several missing pages of this book. Each page will make you a step closer to the end of this story, and provide you one hint or rule you must follow.**

**Rule #1**

**You must not reveal what has changed you by this book to anyone. If they may find out and it is not your faults, then so be it. But if you do by any chance let it slip that you are not as you were, you will never be able to have what's yours returned.**

And with that, the page disappeared into magical dust, leaving the two readers in pure shock- and total confusion.

"HUH?"

"EHH?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hello again! Here was the switch we've all been waiting for! And I do admit some of it I came up with last minute, like the rules and hints thing. That just makes it all the more exciting!**

**Things only get better (or worse) from here folks!**

**Lucy: Oh **_**great...**_

**Natsu: I can't wait...no really I'm jumping with joy over here...**

**Shuddup you two! The next chapter will be so fun to write. *mischievous laugh***

**Lucy/Natsu: *shivers***

**And I'd like to thank all of you for reviewing so far! You rock!**


	4. Let's Put On a Show

Copyright: I have in no way shape or form any ability to posses the awesomeness that is Fairy Tail. All hail Hiro Mashima!

**Switched**

**Chapter 4: Let's Put On a Show**

The makeshift shock from the two didn't last long as they both came to the same conclusion the moment after the magical paper evaporated into thin air. Lucy was the first to verbalize it.

"S-so if I understand this correctly…" Lucy hesitated uncertainly before she continued. "…the book vanished after we… switched bodies. Now there are scattered pages that we have to find… to piece the book back together, which is going to take forever by the way, and…and we can't even tell anyone about this problem of ours or we'll be stuck like this… forever." That was what Lucy had gathered and Natsu nodded hesitantly, also taking it all in.

She thought about it further herself. If what this first rule was saying was true…then it would basically be impossible to ask for help from anyone so Lucy knew she could just forget about talking to Levy about it... There was no way they could risk hinting to her or anyone for that matter about this unless they wanted this spell to be permanent. And Lucy wasn't looking forward to living the rest of her life in a guy's body. She was too feminine already to have to learn to be a muscle-head idiot like Natsu. There was just no way that was happening.

What was almost as frustrating as the first rule was the requirement to collect all of the missing pages of the book. Lucy recalled that there must've been hundreds of pages. Actually she was sure of that, since she had been examining the book so closely earlier, before it conveniently went poof. She believed that there just had to be something more to this. No way would the author really expect them to locate _every _page. But the first page had just appeared before them and they didn't need to look for it at all. Would finding the rest be that easy or was the first page given to them to just start them off? All that Lucy could conclude from this newfound information was that this had to be one messed up author they were dealing with (who turned out to actually be wizard) and that returning to normal was not going to be easy… by any means. If only Levy could help them… she was one of the smartest wizards Fairy Tail had. Surely she could help but in their current situation Lucy knew she couldn't. _Speaking of Levy…I wonder how she got her hands on like a book like this?_

Lucy left her thoughts and glanced over to her body, who she believed was also processing the situation and coming to all the same conclusions, judging by the mix of emotions on his face. He looked like he was thinking hard for a moment before his features relaxed and he spoke. "So we can't tell anyone…or we'll be stuck like this forever, only unless they just figure it out themselves somehow, right?"

Lucy nodded. "Right, but I don't like the sound of that… The author is judging if we are purposely making it obvious that we're like this. What if he judges wrong and it's not our fault that someone finds out?" Lucy questioned. She wasn't even sure how the author could have eyes on them if he wasn't physically there. But maybe it was part of the spell somehow.

Natsu shook his head, suddenly serious, and looked down. "I don't know..." He walked over to one of the apartment's cushioned chairs, flopped down heavily, and crossed his bunny-slipper feet on the coffee table. "Hopefully somebody will figure it out."

She muttered in agreement, "Yeah…" Suddenly this situation was starting to seem hopeless. Lucy wondered. What if they never returned to normal? The requirement to find-all-of-the-pages-thing seemed like it would take years…and Lucy just knew she couldn't hold out for that long. But now she was more eager than ever to return to normal.

"So we can't tell anyone about this, I got that much. So what should we do now? Both of us obviously have no clue how to undo the spell ourselves," she said matter-of-factly.

He sat up and repositioned himself more comfortably. "I figured we just, y'know, act like each other for now, like nothing ever happened," he said simply.

Lucy crossed her muscled arms. "Well, wait a minute. If we want to get back to normal faster, than we need at least some other people to figure out our problem. So shouldn't we just be our usual selves? I be Lucy and you be Natsu. Surely they'd notice a difference and would find out eventually."

"Sure that'd be great but what if Mr. Author guy realizes we're purposely not acting. Then wouldn't we be stuck like this?" Natsu pointed out. Lucy thought about this. The author probably _would_ want them play the part (as if they really had a choice). She sighed tiredly and motioned for him to get up. _We have no choice then to go on the mission like this then._

"I guess we'll have to act like one another for the time being. Do you think you can do that, Natsu?" she asked.

He smirked and then immediately puckered his lips and made exaggerated hip movements that would be comical to anyone else. "Of course! This is too easy," he crossed his arms so he could push up his boobs and almost popped a button.

"Hey, boys…" he said flirtatiously.

Lucy groaned irritably, "Oh, brother…"

Then he made the sweetest smile he could muster. "How much for this key?" He pretended to listen for a reply and made a surprised face. "No, I mean how much?" Then he gasped with a dramatic hand motion over his mouth. "20,000 jewels? How much do you mean, really? You wonderful man!"

Lucy's eyebrow twitched as he shimmied some more and finished off his little seduction show with a wink that would win any guy- a wink that took years for her to master.

"That's just lovely…"she said and face-palmed.

He snorted in response to her disapproval, completely ruining the sexy image. He believed he played the part perfectly. "Yeah, well, how is anyone gonna believe us if you act like _that._" He examined her posture and nearly choked as he just noticed she was crossing her legs- _His legs- _in a very feminine manner. "What makes you think I do that? Look, you have to be more…I don't know…less uptight."

She sat up stubbornly. "Well, I'm sorry. If only I was a great actor like yourself." By the attempts of sexy poses he began to make again she knew he missed the sarcasm in her voice. But he _was_ right; she'd have to act more like Natsu…which was harder than she thought. It was like trying not to think. _I guess I just have to act like a dense moron. But who knew that trying to be dense was actually hard to do? _Lucy eyed Natsu, who was interrupting her thoughts with an even worse show then before. "Hey if you're going to act like me, stop trying to look like you want to kiss everybody! And stop batting your eye lashes and don't- hey I don't shake by butt like that!"

* * *

><p>After Natsu was done trying to act like a girl (the worst attempt Lucy had ever seen), they prepared to leave for the mission. Lucy had to first blindfold Natsu to change him into more appropriate clothes, do his hair and make-up (much to his dislike), and then pack his bags for the journey. Then afterwards they had to rush over to Natsu's home so he could pack her bag, even though he just threw in a couple of items and clothes and strapped on his green sleeping bag. All together it wasn't much at all and with her new muscles Lucy felt like she was lifting a handbag.<p>

Without wasting any more time they rushed across town to the train station and spotted Erza's stacking tower of luggage a mile away. As they got closer they could see Gray and Happy were also present. Just before they reached their friends Lucy caught a glimpse at the clock overhead. They were just on time.

"Hello, Natsu, Lucy." Erza greeted formally as the two arrived. She barely glanced up at the same clock before saying, "You're both just in time." She failed to notice that the two were panting and looking awfully sluggish after running all over town. Of course they didn't want to risk being late…in fear of making the great Titania angry. And making Erza late just wasn't acceptable.

Happy then swooped down and landed on the head he thought belonged to Natsu. "Natsu, why didn't you come home last night? I thought you were just stopping by Lucy's."

Embarrassed, Lucy quickly tried to come up with an excuse that seemed believable (besides what really happened) "I-I uh was…tired and…feel asleep." Lucy said in Natsu's usual drawl, hoping the cat would take the bait.

Happy hummed with acceptance. "Oh did you fall asleep in her cozy bed?" Lucy couldn't avoid making an awkward cough.

_Think, Lucy, think! _"Uhhhhh…no, outside. I-I mean- outside her door." Lucy tried to brush off her stutter and noticed Natsu was giving her supporting glances, egging her on. She decided to keep acting just incase her performance wasn't perfect enough. "She wouldn't let me in…'cause she was cranky like usual." Happy made an "ohhh" noise and left it at that. She of course didn't mean a word of what she said (and she defiantly didn't think she was a cranky person) but Happy seemed to believe it, while Gray was giving her looks that she couldn't figure out.

"Tch. Well, no wonder she didn't let you in. It serves you right for makin' her wait all day at the guild, and same for me too, bub." Gray said crossly.

"Please, you waited half an hour and left," Lucy replied without thinking.

Gray looked a bit taken back. "How would you know that?" Lucy gulped at her mistake. _Of course Natsu wouldn't know that, you dummy! _

Recovering quickly, he continued angrily. "Hey, smart ass, do you want to start somethin'?" Lucy shook her head furiously. The last thing she wanted was a beating from Gray. And behind her she could hear a grumbling Natsu, who was obviously ready to accept the challenge. _No! No! No! This isn't going right at all! Stop it Gray! It's me! Lucy! You don't even know who you're trying to fight here!_

Suddenly Erza violently pushed Gray (who fell back on his butt), with little effort and with a cool demeanor. "Stop it, Gray. That's enough. It seems that Natsu has learned to keep his temper under control over night." She gave an unintentionally rough pat on her back. "I'm proud."

Lucy twitched with the sharp pain her back just received and tried to hold her posture. She just hoped that if Erza knew it was her she would show her appreciation a bit…gentler. _And besides it's not like I had a temper in the first place._ _But I wouldn't dare correct her…_

"Nice going, Natsu," the real Natsu congratulated her quietly, as the group began to move toward the ticket booth and the two trailed behind. "But the real Natsu would've sucker-punched him into next week."

Lucy just shrugged. "I think it turned out better this way."

After they maneuvered through the extremely long ticket line, they finally reached the front and bought they're tickets after 25 minutes. Their train was supposed to be off at 12 on the dot so Lucy would've preferred the line to be shorter. And more so she wished Natsu wasn't grumbling the whole time and grinding her perfect teeth. It seemed that he had just realized taking the train meant transportation (which Natsu just didn't _do_) and complained the whole time about taking the train when they could always just walk.

By the time it was a minute 'til departure and everyone had already boarded the train, Lucy was trying to shove Natsu on, who decided at the last minute to glue his feet to the floor. "C'mon, _Lucy_. Get. On. The. Train," Lucy growled harshly, but Natsu didn't budge.

"_NO."_

Lucy sighed and leaned in to his ear. "Look, Natsu! Everyone knows that _I_ have no problems with transportation! If that author guy thinks you're doing this on purpose to get attention, then you know what will happen, so get in there!" she hissed venomously. Natsu held the door frame, still resisting.

Natsu hissed back. "I can't help it! You know I'm not doing this to screw around! I hate any vehicle!" An on looking official walked over to the tug-a-war and calmly tried to usher them in to the train but to no avail.

He gave a deep breath. "Please, the both of you, this train is going to leave with or without you on it," he tried coaxing them.

"Believe me, we're getting on," the boy said still trying to move the girl.

"BELIEVE ME, NO WE ARE NOT," the blonde shouted in refusal.

The two began bickering once again and failed to pay attention to the clock counting down the last 15 seconds until departure. The man sighed. He really couldn't care less if these kids left on the train or not but he would surely get fired if he didn't stop them from further making a scene. And he was not about to loose a job over these _children._

He stomped his foot obviously ticked off at this point. "Look, can you two lovebirds keep it moving? Just make up your minds whether you're getting on this train or not. It's not safe to stand by the tracks when-"

Lucy fixed her eyes on the man, "L-Lovebirds?" She could feel her cheeks growing noticeably hotter, or was that just the effect of being inside the body of a Fire wizard.

"Yes, sir. Now will you two kindly make up your minds?" he asked obviously biting his tongue from saying much else but uttered, "5 seconds…"

Natsu frowned. "A Lovebird? What kind of bird is that?" he pondered. "Is it like chicken?"

Lucy deadpanned. _Idiot…_ Suddenly Lucy realized the lucky chance she had just received from the official and smiled. She used the perfect opportunity of this distraction to sweep him up bridal style and jumped onto the train, with Natsu kicking and screaming all the way to their seats. But Lucy could care less if he was fighting now, since they had finally made it aboard at the last second. Lucy dumped Natsu next to Gray and Happy in the booth and slumped down tiredly next to Erza, trying to ignore the confused looks her friends were giving them.

"What was all that about?" Erza asked finally. Lucy immediately regretted bringing Natsu in such a questionable manner. _I should've planned this better…_ But before she could think of a plausible excuse she was interrupted.

"Nothing, I just sprained my ankle and Natsu was kind enough to carry me," Natsu replied a little too innocently. The others gave an approving gesture to Natsu, but the real Natsu gave a subtle pout in Lucy's direction.

But Lucy didn't notice it because suddenly the room was spinning… and her stomach was doing summersaults. _Are you kidding…? This is happening to me? Not him?_

_"__URP!"_

The pink haired wizard slumped over in her uncomfortable state and choked out sickly murmurs and groans. Lucy felt like she was drowning in a sea of nausea and barely heard Gray's chuckle, "It's about time."

Natsu glanced over at his body and watched in awe that what he feared this whole time wasn't happening to him. For the first time in his life…he felt perfectly fine on a vehicle. He wondered. Maybe it was because he was in someone else's body. Still, he couldn't help but grin in excitement. _I guess being in this body does have its advantages._

He couldn't say the same for Lucy though…especially since Erza had just knocked her out with one quick blow to the gut. And it looked pretty painful…and he would know; he had felt it countless times before. _Yep, there are lots of advant_ages…

* * *

><p>From then on, none of them talked much during the train ride, all of them consumed in their own thoughts. It was when they could see the nearby town ahead that anyone actually spoke.<p>

"There it is." Erza said patting the sleeping Lucy in her lap awake. When they arrived at the town of Shokuhin they grabbed their luggage and walked until they reached one of the several roads of the high-class looking town. Lucy, who almost gagged every couple of steps, was still recovering from her motion sickness and was even more ill after hearing that Natsu had no problems at all. The group moved through the busy town and couldn't help but notice the many people in the streets and the dozens of market tents that were set up. There wasn't even any room for carriages to drive through because of all of the commotion. Lucy wondered if this town that she had never visited before was always like this. At the train station they had grabbed a map to help guide them though the streets, so they followed it as best as they could while bumping through the huge crowds of people. After following the map for a while they eventually reached the corner of a road that supposedly led to the requester if they turned left. Lucy, who was feeling much better now, could focus clearly and found it strange that as they turned onto the main street, it was closed off.

"Where is everyone?" Lucy asked in Natsu's voice and they all exchanged looks and stared at the towering fence in front of them.

"I'm sure it has something to do with today's festivities…" Erza said convinced.

Gray had already begun to climb over the pearly, not wooden, fence and dared Lucy to race him over. She immediately denied his offer, upon noticing Erza's stares and decided to fly over with Happy, who returned for Natsu and Erza, since it was a good 12 feet tall. She was sure Natsu would have loved to battle Gray, though. Which he would've, but he was enjoying the fact that Erza treated him better and punished Gray when she saw Lucy acting all mature even more. He thought about it after seeing the results. _Maybe I should try it sometime?_

Once over, Lucy noted that the pearly brick road wasn't completely deserted, after spotting the dozens and dozens of wooden crates spread about.

"That's odd," was all Natsu said concerning the crates and the empty road as they approached the building at the end of the long road.

Lucy couldn't put her thumb on it but there was something eerie about this part of town…and she was apprehensive. For all the right reasons it turned out. Because before they even reached the gates to the building ahead, something huge had rolled right in front of them, it easily the size of a wrecking ball. They all took cautious stances and when the giant bouncy ball started to move Lucy felt herself taking a step back. It rocked back and forth until it reached a stop a few feet in front of the group.

Then Lucy felt _it_, and she was sure the others did too. An unfamiliar magical power was emitting from the thing. It made Lucy curious. Was it a weapon? Lucy eyed it, still on the offensive._ There's something weird about this ball…_ _And is it me or is it…_

The ball began to shake and turn slowly on its side.

_Laughing? _

Suddenly she froze, not expecting for the next thing for this wrecking ball to surprise them with…

…_It has a voice?_

"Hello, Fairy Tail…"

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><p><strong>AN: Hello everyone! This chapter came out quickly huh? Well it's a reward to everyone as a HUGE THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS. I take each on of them into consideration, especially if it involves my writing. I'm trying to improve so thank you all for the support. I even went back and rewrote chapter 2 and 3 even though the general story is still the same. BUT if you want to make sure you know everything that's going on you might want to go check 'em out again.**

**And again, thank you! Reviews aren't necessary for me to continue with this story but they are very much appreciated! Believe me, I love this story too much to let it go!**


	5. Tomato, Tomahto

Copyright: I have in no way shape or form any ability to posses the awesomeness that is Fairy Tail. All hail Hiro Mashima!

**Switched**

**Chapter 5: Tomato, Tomahto**

Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Happy all watched as the towering figure spoke from its unseen mouth. "Hello, Fairy Tail…"

The said-guild members were taken back with surprise. Aside from the fact that the situation was already strange enough, now the giant ball was actually talking to them. Lucy pondered at this potentially dangerous foe. _What _is_ this gigantic thing? It just came out of no where! This definitely wasn't in the job description! _And as if on cue, the thing shook again with laughter, making her feel uneasy._ Whatever it is it can't be a good…_

Lucy gazed back to her companions, who were standing slightly ahead of her and looking ready to brawl. Hesitant and nervous, she stepped in line with them. Then a thought came to her. _Wait a sec…we're not going to battle are we?_ _BUT I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT!_ She bawled inwardly.

"-The hell?"

Lucy swallowed her tears and looked to her left. It seemed Gray was the first one to recover. He raised an eyebrow at the giant. "Don't tell me this thing can talk," he said dumbfounded.

"Heh." Natsu spoke in Lucy's sweet voice. "You're actually right for once, ice head," he said, despite knowing it sounded out of character.

Lucy scanned Gray to check if he had noticed anything but the ice mage didn't seem to waver, being too concerned the more important matter at hand. She thanked a higher power and simultaneously cursed Natsu. _That idiot!_

Even so, Natsu couldn't care less if anyone thought it was weird because right now they were all more concerned with the odd ball-shape thing in front of them (Well except for Lucy, she could worry about both problems equally). They thought that whatever it was, it was big, red, round, and seemed to be asking for a fight. And by looking at the fierce look in his eyes Lucy could tell Natsu was happy to oblige. And by knowing that, if possible, Lucy cried even more inwardly than before. _BUT I DON'T WANT _HIM_ TO FIGHT EITHER!_ She stopped sobbing to shudder as the creepy foe continued to laugh away at their conversation.

_No where… no where… I repeat… NO WHERE WAS THERE ANY SORT OF FIGHTING LISTED IN THE REUEST FLYER! _Lucy nearly choked on sobs. _Sure, Gray and Erza can fight, but Natsu and me? Out of the question! _She thought._ Obviously, he might ruin my perfect body! That's the worst of it! And it's not exactly like we _can _fight anyway!_ Lucy could see how the fight would play out. Gray and Erza would be doing fine of course, provided they keep damage to a minimum, but for the clueless idiot and herself, they would fail miserably. Even without magic they'd suck big time, but with it… (Images floated around in her head of the mere attempts of them trying to use unfamiliar magic). All she could say is that Happy had a better chance of beating this thing.

She held her fists up in a pathetic attempt to look menacing, the more pathetic part being her sniffling away tears at the same time. _This isn't going to end well. _"I g-guess we h-have to f-f-fight…" Lucy shivered with her voice equally as shaky.

"Aye!"

Lucy gave a half-hearted smile (more like 1/100th) and said "Y-yep!" although her body begged to differ. She was breaking out in a cold sweat. Well, as cold a sweat could be on a fire wizard.

"Fight? You actually want to fight? You want to fight me?" The thing chuckled as if it was the funniest thing it'd ever heard.

_Tsk._ "Why you..."

Teary-eyed, Lucy feebly sent a gaze towards Erza, who had been silent up till now. The scarlet-haired teen was eyeing the thing angrily, maybe because it was interrupting the mission? Who knows, but Lucy knew it would regret ever making Erza mad.

"Oh, so it wasn't just my imagination," Gray smirked teasingly. "This thing _can_ talk."

"More strangely though, it knows we're Fairy Tail wizards," Erza noted while practicing a battle stance. She never took her eyes off the looming figure for a second.

It chuckled. "So… these are the Fairy Tail wizards who've taken up the request. Good, good, good. It's a pleasure…" It chuckled even louder.

To that Lucy made an irritated twitch. "What's with this freaky thing?" She surveyed it and with her now-stronger sense of smell she noticed it smelt like…food…or perhaps leaves? _"No wait…"_ Strange enough, its scent was similar to that of the rest of the town. It had an earthy smell, but most distinctly it smelt like…"Tomatoes?"

It seemed that her input didn't go unnoticed. "What?" The others said as they watched the boy with pink hair awkwardly sniff the air in direction of the giant.

"What the hell are you doing?" a voice spoke by her. Lucy was to busy sniffing the air to notice it was Gray's voice asking.

"This thing smells like a tomato." She said, coming back from her new dragon-instincts, which were a very strange new addition to this already weird body.

Erza's eyes narrowed with displeasure and darted right back to their target. In half a second she requipped a long silver blade and pointed it at the figure, whether it realized it or not. "Listen up! Tell me who and what you are!"

It merely snickered, enjoying the scene all too much.

"Yeah, and stop with that annoying laughter already," Gray growled.

Suddenly there was a puff of red smoke around the being. "True, true, true. I guess I should save this fun for later." The giant, round thing shook again with the same giggles as before and Lucy couldn't hide her flinch as she saw the shadow of it morphing into a different shape. Through the fog she still noticed it was shrinking and as the smoke cleared it was also gaining more noticeable features, like a velvet red suit, clean-cut brown hair, as well as a man's face.

Natsu frowned and made fists (in his noticeably softer hands) as he could only watch as the figure changed form. "_Is it going to attack?"_

As the clouds of red cleared what stood in the spot of the giant was now a very dressy looking man- not elderly but he had his share of wrinkles. His eyesight must've been that of an old man's though because he wore a spectacle over each eye. Above his head he had a green top-hat thing with vines wrapped around it, and below he had spit-shined _green _shoes. Yes, green shoes. With this arrangement of colors he looked quite Christmas-y. "Who am I you ask?" He asked with hints of superiority in his husky voice. They all nodded with their fighting stances turning more awkward by the moment. The man clapped twice and in a puff a smoke a wooden cane appeared. He swung in with experience, as if practicing a dance number, and stepped gracefully towards Titania before lightly whacking her on the head.

The others stood baffled and with their mouths hung open, like frogs trying to catch flies. "D-did he just…just…" Natsu whispered, quivering.

"H-hit Erza like…like…" Gray continued just as quietly.

"Like nothing at all!" Happy finished, a bit louder.

"A-aye…" Lucy mumbled.

Erza shook, her anger boiling, like an erupting volcano. _How dare he play games with me? Is he mocking us?_ "Why you…" Erza growled. The rest of her team screamed like little girls and in fear took as many safe steps back as they could. "You…you…you!-" she tried to find the right words but before she could utter anything else the man suddenly held out a shiny red…

"Tomato?" he offered.

They all looked at him dumbfounded. He had just whacked the strongest female wizard in their guild and now he was…_Wait, what _is _he doing? _Lucy thought.

"Surely, you like tomatoes, right?"

Erza just stared at it, hair covering her eyes so they couldn't see her expression. They all just silently waited with anticipation of what she was going to do. _She's probably going to butcher him,_ Lucy thought fearfully for the man, even though she didn't like him.

The man bent over to Erza's height a few inches below his own and smiled kindly. "It's a peace offering. I don't want to get off on the wrong foot, besides…" He took her hands in his own and placed the tomato in them, since Erza seemed to be malfunctioning from the inconsistency of his actions. "I'm the one who requested you all."

"…"

"WHAT?"

"YOU?"

"HUH?"

"AYE!"

Lucy face-palmed at Happy's remark. "And wait, I think we already got off on the wrong foot…"

The mad simply smiled, not paying attention to their remarks, and having not noticed Erza hadn't moved at all. "Oh, yes, and I'm also the mayor of this town, since you asked me who and what I was earlier. It's nice to meet you."

He poked out his hand for Erza to shake but she instead quivered before falling into knight's-kneel on the brick road. "Please forgive my rudeness!" She blushed madly and the others gawked at her and the so-called mayor.

"No, it's my fault. Excuse me; I just love seeing people's reactions to my magic…"

"You're a wizard?" Lucy asked suddenly. "-wait what the heck kind of magic is that?" She exclaimed in her new voice. Erza stood up and in a flash punched _Gray_ into the nearest wall, with a very audible crunch.

"Q-quiet! Don't be rude, Natsu!" Erza held a deep blush of embarrassment on her cheeks.

Gray had already passed out upon hitting the ground.

"Erza's malfunctioning!" Happy shouted fearfully.

"Yeah, she accidentally hit Gray instead." Lucy said dumbfounded.

The mayor didn't seem to notice what had happened and continued. "You see, I'm not a full-fledged wizard by any means, but I do know some magic tricks here and there. That blow-up magic is my favorite and it's fun to show the kids around town. I just wanted to see if I could get a laugh from you wizards or not. I was afraid you were going to be too uptight, being from a wizard guild and all."

Erza's face went redder than her hair. "Oh, I see…"

"If you're going to participate in the request I'm going to have to see if you all are cheery enough for the job." The man nodded and let the team (minus a K.O-ed Gray) take in everything he said. However, he waited a little bit longer than necessary, causing an awkward silence.

"So are you gonna tell us about the job or not?" The blonde asked impatiently and Erza smacked the floating _Happy_ into the ground.

"Use your manners, Lucy!"

The real Lucy and Natsu looked shocked at the poor blue blob in the hole in the ground.

"HAPPY!" Natsu shouted in concern to his unresponsive companion. He kneeled down (in the way Lucy taught him to do while wearing a skirt) and cradled the blob solemnly, "It's a super-malfunctioned Erza! She never hits Happy!" He cried, "What is this world coming to?"

"…So I don't know that many spells at all really. But this one makes me blow up and look like a tomato. It's quite comical really because of my name and all…" the man chuckled to himself. "My name is Mr. Tomahto by the way."

Lucy deadpanned. "Does this guy always space out this much?-"

"Tomato! That sounds yummy!" Natsu yelled standing up and licking his lips. He unnoticeably dropped Happy who sunk to the bottom of the hole in the shape of the blue cat.

Seeing as Gray and Happy were out cold and Erza was a robot, Lucy smacked Natsu on the back of the head. "Shut it, you."

"Oh yes, about the request. Thank you for reminding me. As I wrote in the flyer I need your help preparing for the annual harvest festival," he hummed. "Apart from helping construct, decorate, and get ready for tonight's festivities, I ask you all to please stay and enjoy the fun as well! And perhaps you all can help entertain for a while?"

Lucy and Natsu looked at each other.

"I'm sure everyone would love to see some magic tricks other than my own. Even though mine are pretty great, I'm sure you all would put on a great show," Mr. Tomahto went on. Lucy scratched the back of her head. She surely didn't want to get fired from the mission for not doing what the requestor asked of them. Even though it could mean blowing their cover and ruining Natsu's and her chances of returning to normal… _Scratch that_. Not blowing their cover was more important.

"You see our spells are, uh…too dangerous to use in public! Yeah!" Lucy thought on her feet. "We wouldn't want to put anyone in harms way…but we can do everything else you asked!" she decided to milk it. "And besides your spells are more entertaining then any of ours!"

The man still smiled pleasantly. "Hmm…well I heard your guild was apart of a festival as well, and that you performed some magic then so I thought…"

_Oops. I forgot about the Fantasia Parade! _Lucy flinched. "…Heh, well you see, um…" she could feel herself cracking…_But Natsu and I can't use magic like we are now!. We have no experience whatsoever! We can't do it. We won't do it! We-!_

"We'll do it, no problem. If that's what you want!"

"Eh?!" she exclaimed. Lucy looked at Natsu. He was crossing his arms with a face of what seemed like determination. He simply gave her a toothy grin. "No we really can't!"

"Well, I say that it's just splendid that you wizards are here! No pressure! So let's begin with the preparations!" The man wrapped an arm around the two. "I hope you like food."

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><p><strong>AN: This is a bit of a shorter chapter but the next one will be a bit longer than usual so you'll see why I cut it here. **

**Mr. T: Do you like Tomatoes?**

**SSH: Yeah, but you know that's a fruit, right?**

**Mr.T: ...**

**SSH: Right?**

**Mr. T: ...**

**Mr.T: Can you rephrase the question?**

**SSH: *gets out drawing board* TOMATO=FRUIT, right?**

**Mr.T: I don't understand the question. Can I phone a friend?**

**SSH: *facepalm***

**Anyway because this chapter is a little bit short I'll give you all a treat. This is for Ree-Vance and vampire-fetish15 and anyone else wondering about how they...well...just read ahead if you'd like.**

**Now think back to the last chapter... This is what happened right before they left for the train station...**

* * *

><p><em>This is by no means funny! I can just think about what people would say!<em> Lucy stomped her foot. "I've had enough! Now _stop it_!" she growled. Natsu was continuing to act (in his warped-vision way) like herself, and what he was doing had surpassed being annoying. She was convinced that he was actually _serious_ about walking down the street like that. She frowned further in irritation.

"B-but...Pffff…b-but it's so pfffff f-funny," he gasped. Natsu tried to hold in his laugh but it kept on leaking out. And the sour face that Lucy made was making him laugh even more.

"Ugh..." Lucy crossed her muscled arms. _He definitely isn't going to get away with this_. She was in mid-thought before she heard him choke on a laugh so she snapped back at him. "I mean it! You'll embarrass me! So don't you _dare_ do that in public!"

Natsu snickered at her threat, "Or what?"

She looked up suspiciously and rose and eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

"If I do it then just what are you going to do about it?" He smirked while he teased her.

Lucy's eyebrows furrowed. _Now it's time for sweet ol' revenge Lucy! Don't hold back! _"Do it and I'll…I'll…!"

"You'll _what_?" Natsu leaned over from the chair he was standing on, amused at her reaction. This was going to be good.

Lucy thought on her feet. "I'll wax your legs! All those weird little pink hairs, gone!" she shouted, not caring how silly this was.

Natsu flinched at the idea but after a moment smirked. "You wouldn't dare…That'd be too painful, am I right?" Lucy only glared at him, thinking again. _Okay well..._

"...Well I'll…polish your nails!"

He smiled at her attempts to break him. He wasn't going to give in to her. Just acting like Lucy was super fun but he liked this game too. "You could…," he grinned, "but that smelly stuff would just burn off."

She pouted. _Back__ to the drawing board I suppose. _Then she thought of something else. "I'll dye your hair!"

He couldn't help but chuckle at that. _Really, Lucy? _"My hair's already the worst color you could die someone's hair. But of course it looks cool on me."

Lucy frowned, deciding not to tell him how girly his hair looked, and held her chin in thought for a few moments. Then suddenly a thought came to her and she slipped out a few chuckles before smirking. "Maybe that'll work…" Her eyes sparkled mischievously.

Natsu was caught of guard. "W-what will…?" he asked almost fearfully.

"Tehehe…"

"Tell me!"

Lucy just grinned even more.

"What is it?" He asked desperately, already losing his cool.

And then Lucy dropped the bomb on him. "I'll kiss Gray."

Natsu fell out of the chair and sprawled out on the floor all in less than a second. "SAY WHAT?"

She giggled evilly. "That's all I need to say. If you even think about doing that ridiculous dance, I'll kiss Gray." His face lost all signs of life and she merely brushed a speck off her shoulder.

"Y-YOU WOULDN'T!"

"Try me."

Natsu quivered as if about to say something else but instead crossed his arms with a pout, looking away. "F-fine, you win," he grumbled from below.

Lucy grinned. "Yes, yes I did."

Then Natsu huffed angrily and stood up. "…That was just low, Lucy!" He growled.

"I know right?" Lucy grinned wider in superiority. "I, Lucy, beat the powerful Natsu Dragneel without so much as lifting my finger."

The said guy (now girl) took a few steps away and grumbled bitterly. "Whatever…Excuse me, your _highness_…"

Lucy was too busy nodding proudly to herself to notice him walk away into the bathroom. But as soon as the door closed something clicked in her mind. _Bathroom...wait that could only mean-!_

"WAIT! NO!" in an instant she was banging on the wood of the door for dear life. "COME BACK OUT HERE!"

She heard a muffled female voice. "Why? So you can brag some more? I'm busy…"

"Natsu get out here!"

"No."

"NATSU!"

Then with a '_CLICK' _the door locked.

_Wait so it wasn't even locked before? DAMMIT I COULD'VE JUST WALKED RIGHT IN!_ "Natsu, do you even know what you're doing?" Lucy begged through the door.

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I?" Natsu retorted. She could hear water running. _That's weird…_

"Natsu, what exactly _are_ you doing?"

"Taking a shower." He smirked evilly when he heard pitiful cries on the other side of the door. _This is too much fun…_

Later, when he came out, he found Lucy as crying heap on the floor. He had to admit it looked pretty pathetic since it was his own body crying like a baby.

"Natsu!" she clung to his pajama pant leg upon realizing he finally came out after what seemed like forever, "How could you!" She cried her eyes out into it.

"How could I what?"

She sniffled. "How could you...you..." She couldn't say it. The world was ending for all she knew. The day something like this happens is the day world has already crumbled under her.

"What? Bandage myself?" He said plainly.

"Yes, bandage yourself-!" She paused through sobs. "Wait, _what_?"

To answer he lifted his shirt to show a white bandage wrapped around his stomach. "I was just bandaging myself."

Lucy was dumfounded. "Wait...was that from when I kicked you earlier?" He nodded. "So...you didn't take a shower?"

"Nope, I just said it to hear your reaction." He told her honestly. Her face lost all signs of life and he merely brushed a speck off his shoulder.

"You're evil..." she whined with comical tears rolling down her cheeks.

He smiled genuinely at his friend and helped her stand up, even though now she was towering over him when she stood. He gave a toothy grin. "Well, whether you're in this body or not, I still don't want you to get hurt. When we get our bodies back I want it to be just like before."

They stood there in front of each other for a few moments and after Lucy absorbed what he had said she just smiled. Lucy could understand his odd way of saying things more then most people could. "Thanks, Natsu."

Already moving on to another though, Natsu scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "So anyway...I really do have to take a piss and..." he remained in his spot and laughed nervously." I don't really know what to do."

At that statement Lucy couldn't help but chuckle at his humility but stopped when he started making his way back to the toilet. "Hey what the heck are you doing?"

"What I just said I was gonna do" He stated matter-of-factly.

"So…Wait. _What_?! Were you just going to _figure it out_ or something?" Lucy didn't wait for him to reply as she scrambled to block his entrance into the bathroom.

"Well yeah, it can't be rocket surgery." Natsu said plainly. Lucy ignored his weird gesture.

"You stay right there! I'll be right back." she barked at him before running to her closet and coming back with a cloth. She tied the scarf tightly around his head so that he looked like a mummy. She even went so far as to wrap his arms around his back with the long garment.

"You are going to wear that every. Single. Time. You have to…y'know. You got that?" He made a muffled noise she couldn't distinguish as words so she left it at that. And she didn't care what he said anyway because now she was already shoving him in the bathroom. When he felt the tile floor under his feet he started shaking his head profusely.

"Oh quiet, you. I'm not about to teach this to you so you just do your thing and I'll do everything else." She knew this would be embarrassing for him but when they got back to normal, he wouldn't know anymore about her body than he did before. She was going to make sure of that. And with that the door shut with a click.

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><p><strong>AN: Hope that last part was fun to read. :3**

**You see guys, I play close attention to reviews. I remember one asking about how they use the bathroom, and after I got 2 I thought, **_**well I can fit that in somewhere**_**. I love everyone's input and if you all gang together and say "Well can you add this", chances are I will, but I'll make it ,fun too ;) **

**I'm not taking demands or requests, but if you ask about why I didn't add something, or if you make a suggestion on something I could add, I'll be happy to see if I can sneak it in there. Don't be upset if I don't use your idea right away, because I may be saving it for a later chapter or the problem is it just doesn't fit in the chapter I'm writing. Anyway I hope to hear some suggestions for the future chapters!**

**Thanks everyone! But before I go, I have a question for you!**

**Should I make it easier for you to remember that they're bodies are switched? Are you getting confused about that? I try to add some things here and there to remind you but should I add more of those? Like for instance: "The blonde said" or "the guy said." Things like that. Would that help or am I just worrying for nothing and you don't need it.**

**Thanks! (now I'm leaving, so don't worry I'm shutting up now) ;)**


	6. Mirror, Mirror

Copyright: I have in no way shape or form any ability to posses the awesomeness that is Fairy Tail. All hail Hiro Mashima!

**Switched**

**Chapter 6: Mirror, Mirror**

Lights from the lively streets lit through the glass window of the hotel room. The rainbow of colors painted themselves on an unconscious body lying dormant on the spinach-green couch. Even in the dark room, the body's masculine features and rosy hair still glowed from the vivid lights outside. The pink haired figure muttered random words under her hot breath, none of them very audible or understandable. She turned repeatedly under the blanket and as a result they were tossed to the floor from her senseless motions.

It was 7:32 on this warm summer evening in a town just awakening—much like the boy—er—_girl _stirring from her slumber. She growled incoherent words as she was forced to leave her peaceful dreams. It was at times like this (well actually it had to be _all _of the time) she just _really_ didn't like to be in the body of a dragon slayer. With her new enhanced hearing, her eardrums were ringing from the loud commotion outside her second floor window, all the way down to the crowds of people below. The hundreds of people sounded like thousands of chattering mouths, and not to mention the constant music being played to excite the crowd of vegetable-obsessed people.

She lazily sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she examined her suite. It seemed undisturbed since she had last seen it hours before. The room was fairly large and had double of everything. Two queen sized beds, nightstands, wardrobes, couches, chairs, plus a marble-surfaced kitchen. From what she could already see, this was a pretty sweet room that the mayor was offering them as part of their stay and it was even free of charge! Lucy stood up and scratched her head, ruffling her already messy pink spikes. Maybe that weird tomato guy had some redeeming qualities after all.

Patting a yawn she dragged her tired body over to the mini-fridge and chose one of the bottles without much thought. Ready to satisfy her thirst, she already began unscrewing the cap and brought it to her mouth. This however also brought the stench of the liquid to her nose, it being of the very earthy kind. She sighed and put the bottle back. _Of course it's tomato juice! _Alternatively, she poured a glass of water from the sink and turned back around to flop down on the highly-pillowed couch, which was very comfy she might add. She liked having the room all to herself, so she could unwind from the hours of the intense labor. Her muscles were sore after the tiring hours of trying to build the whole freaking festival. Yes, it seemed the request to help out with the festival wasn't far from the truth but did fail to leave out a few major details.

It was only _after_ the mayor had left them to prepare for that night's festivities that the team realized what all of the crates filling the street were for. All of the dozens of crates were packed full of wooden planks and boards, and a few were filled with nails, hammers, and other building equipment. To the team's surprise, they learned that in this whole town of veg-heads, there was not one construction worker! Not a single person knew how to make anything other than a salad, and so the four wizards had to literally build the whole festival from scratch. From every chair to every table they had to saw and hammer for five hours straight, just barely finishing before the mayor was ready to inspect everything. It seemed that after constructing the new Fairy Tail Guild House that engineering for them wasn't too hard, but this time there were no breaks or anything. Just working, and in the eighty-five degree weather and one hundred percent chance of blazing sun, it wasn't fun. Well it wasn't as bad for the girl in the body of a fire dragon slayer, although she was sweating by the last hour or so. And during the constructing she found she was much better off with her new flexing muscles than her old flimsy ones.

Besides her, it seemed everyone had something they could bring to the table for this job. Erza smirked at the mere idea of using the weak saws and provided her own- which were sharpened swords of course. Wielding those, she handled all of the wood cutting, and with Gray controlling several ice hammers at once with his magic, he could nail in half the time it would have taken anyone else. Lucy, with her new muscles was able to transport the heavy materials around with Happy's help, flying to each end of the street in record time.

And then there was Natsu. Lucy face distorted just thinking about how _helpful_ he was. She had to admit though, knowing that cute dainty body all too well, that it was just not built for hard labor. But seriously, she would've summoned her spirits to assist her, simple as that. Taurus, Sagittarius, and Loki already came to mind, but since Natsu was unfamiliar with celestial spirit magic, he did his best without it. She tried not to think about how much further they were pushed _back_ behind schedule because of the dozens of accidents that guy caused! Bumping in to things, tripping over things, running into things, dropping things; to sum it all up, many things broke and snapped under his watchful eye- including the heels on the shoes he was wearing.

Okay after thinking about it, maybe it would've been better to dress him in sneakers before they left Magnolia, but Lucy never thought it would be this hard for someone to walk in high heels. As soon as Lucy learned to walk, she was always accompanied by a pair of heels. Being the daughter of a wealthy family, it was always strictly enforced that she had to learn to be a proper lady— which she guessed included wearing tall footwear. So what if it slipped her mind that it might actually take a guy sometime to learn this stuff? If she could do it as a toddler she thought surely Natsu could do it. But of course not! He was doing fine from her apartment all the way to the town but as soon as they had to get their hands dirty, he decided then of all times to continuously loose his balance. He just had to go breaking everything in his way until it finally came down to her favorite boots! She couldn't even count how many jobs she took to pay for those beauties, not to add how many jewels it cost to buy them! She worked so hard to earn those beautiful designer-made black boots, and now she couldn't even wear them anymore since _both_ of the heels had snapped off. After all of that trouble, she forced Natsu to sit under a tree in the distance and to not take even one step towards the building site.

It wasn't long afterwards that team finished with the construction and decorations as instructed by the mayor. And when returned he said was very impressed by the job and gave each of them a key to a suite at a nearby hotel. Logically, the boys shared a room and so did the girls, making things a bit awkward for Lucy and Natsu, given the situation. However, neither of them said a word and just grabbed their bags, leaving with everyone for the hotel. Upon arriving to their room Gray had decided to go take a shower and left Lucy alone to take a well-deserved nap.

So now it was the evening and she assumed that sometime during her rest the festival started. Also during that time it seemed Gray left seeing as he wasn't around.

The first thing Lucy wanted to do now was take a nice long bath. She admitted she felt dirty and probably stunk after working in the sun all day, and plus it would be relaxing on her muscles. But she ignored her craving, seeing as she wasn't in the appropriate position to just throw all of her clothes off and do that sort of thing. She instead just went to the bathroom and soaped a hand towel to clean whatever parts of her guy-friend's body she could without removing too much clothing.

Sometime during this cleaning, Lucy gazed into the mirror and gave a heavy sigh to what she saw. She froze in her actions and searched for some familiarity in the reflection. This was the first time she had really seen herself in a mirror since the change. It wasn't right. Her hair, her face, her body…everything was different. Where she wanted to see blonde she saw pink. Where she wanted to see a girl she saw a guy. Where she wanted to see Lucy she saw…_Sigh._ Not even her eyes looked like her own. She dearly hoped that if she blinked she would see her real self in that mirror, but to no avail. The mirror's answer was a tall, muscled, pink-haired, guy. The answer was Natsu. Not Lucy Heartfilia, but Natsu Dragneel.

After all this time, she had tried to grow used to waking up and being in another body but now of all times, the situation really hit her hard. Without giving notice before, she was now starting to understand her situation even more. She looked down from the mirror, ashamed. That person in the mirror wasn't her and could never be her, so why was this all happening? It was unimportant to her _how_ it happened but instead _why_. What was the point of this cruel work of dark magic? Why would someone want to do this to another human being with feelings just as their own? Or perhaps the maker of that book didn't have feelings.

Was it even possible to return to normal or was she going to be stuck like this forever?

She winced as she glanced at the mirror again. She saw the warm and kind face of her best friend but the expression was heavy. There was no smile like she was used to seeing and there was no happiness in those coal-black eyes.

"It's all a lie…" she mumbled and cringed in disgust as the words weren't her own. She stared hard at that reflection but it stood there unchanging. "This isn't me…" she said in a voice that was far from her own. She tensed up as those words echoed in the room and in her mind. She was angry. Angry at whoever did this to her. It was like her identity, her past, everything was taken away from her…and she didn't know what to do. All she knew was that some evil person was watching over her, amused at this messed up game. "This isn't a joke. This isn't funny, this is… cruel."

Suddenly, a paper with familiar gold lettering dropped from the air and fell under the running water of the sink.

**I hope you're enjoying yourself as much as I am.**

She read the cold words that seemed to mock her, so much that they sparked a frustrated and heartfelt scream from her. It was a low, deep scream. One that came from Natsu and just hearing it made her yell again. She didn't want to hear Natsu! She wanted to hear Lucy! She didn't want to see Natsu! She wanted to see Lucy!

She wanted Lucy!

LUCY!

_Crack!_

She was out of breath and panted for what felt like a long time before calming down. She still couldn't focus on the laughter and joyous sounds from outside but she now remembered they were there. She finally caught her breath enough to attempt to shrug off her sudden outburst. Somewhere in her, she knew now what it felt like to be so raging mad as she's seen Natsu get before. However she also knew that it was her own anger that sparked the outburst. To tell the truth it surprised her so much, that she hoped she would never feel that mad again. It was scary and as she looked into the empty sink she knew that her anger had just caused her to hallucinate. There was never any letter at all. She thought she'd seen it but wasn't thinking clearly like she was now.

Lucy allowed herself to sigh deeply and release any previous anger. She had finally slipped back into reality, where her situation was the same but she would handle it differently. Instead of pitying herself she would instead do everything she could to return her own body and to her own identity. There was still hope. She was a Fairy Tail wizard. There was no such thing as the impossible…

Upon realizing this she was ready to face the other person in the mirror. She knew who was there and that she couldn't change it now, but she would eventually. She was sure of it. Lucy managed to look up to not only see Natsu, but a broken, cracked version of him. Her fist was lodged deep within the mirror and she didn't even notice. Even after that incident Lucy couldn't deny that what was always on the forefront of her mind was trying figure out how to switch their bodies back. However she didn't see it as a hopeless task anymore but as a promise to look forward to. There wasn't anything she could do to help her situation while they were in this town so when she was done in the bathroom she prepared to go out. She decided that one thing she needed right now was to take a break from her problems. Besides, there was no point in not enjoying the festival she worked so hard to set up.

* * *

><p>Happy burst from the large crowd as he spotted his adoptive father. "Natsu!"<p>

Lucy peered back to the source of the voice and was greeted by Happy who flew over heads to reach her. She was eating a vegetable shish kabob and smiled at her new constant companion.

"Hey buddy," she greeted with a stuffed mouth. Ever since her little incident at the hotel she felt like playing the part of Natsu had strangely become easier now that she was somehow more in touch with his emotions. She was no master by any means but it wasn't as difficult anymore.

For a while the two went about the main street and enjoyed the childish fun that came with the festivities. They played games with the little kids and won free tickets to more food in the festival. The great meals were by far Lucy's favorite part. Nothing could beat the satisfaction of eating dozens of tasty dishes with a bottomless stomach! She felt like the food was reward enough for their hard work and overall she couldn't have enjoyed herself more.

Lucy patted her full stomach as she wobbled with Happy back to the hotel. They could just see it in the distance when Happy asked, "So when are you gonna tell Lucy about the hot springs, Natsu?"

Lucy curiously raised a pink eyebrow. "Hot springs? And tell me- I mean _Lucy_? What do you mean?" She glossed over her slip up.

"Oh come on, Natsu! You know what I'm talking about!" He replied anxiously. "The whole reason why we wanted to go on this mission with Lucy was to take her to the free hot springs here!"

Thinking back, Lucy did recall that Natsu and Happy were above excited to go on this mission. At first she thought it was strange that they didn't want to go on a dangerous mission with more pay but now everything made sense if it was a gift. _But what for?_

"We did, did we?" Lucy began carefully. "Well I'm so stuffed that I can't think straight. Remind me why again, Happy?" Lucy asked as casually as possible.

"Jeez, and I thought cats had bad memories! It was your idea, Natsu!" Happy exclaimed.

"Yeah?"

"Aye! You said that you thought that Lucy was tired from doing all of those missions for a week. So you thought she needed a break to have some fun!"

Upon hearing that explanation, Lucy finally understood everything. The surprise Natsu had in store for her and was so excited about on that day he crashed into her apartment. It was so clear now! It was a gift! A weird and confusing way to give a present…But it was surprisingly thoughtful of Natsu and she just couldn't hold back her beaming smile.

"Why are you so Happy, Natsu?! We're running out of time! We should go quickly and tell Lucy before it gets too late and-!"

The dragon slayer couldn't help but burst out in laughter and gave Happy a comforting pat on the head. "It's OK, Happy, she already knows…" She continued to chuckle to herself.

Happy floated onto her head. "Hmm? OK, then, if you already told her… then why don't we go too?!"

Lucy's body stiffened at the idea and she cocked her head the side. "Um… No, I'm good." Happy tried to balance on her pink head and whined.

"C'mon, Natsuuuuuu!"

Lucy cocked her head to the other side, trying to shake off the idea _and _Happy for bringing up something so awkward. "Just…No, thanks." She kept shaking her head, making Happy grab on to her pink spikes.

"S-st-ooo-ppp iii-t Naaaa-tsuuuu!"

"Oi!"

Lucy turned around with a dizzy Happy on her head in time to see Gray trying to catch up with them.

"Oh hey, Gray." Lucy tried to not sound happy to see him.

Gray finally caught up with the two and asked, "Where've you guy's been?"

"Around the town." Lucy answered plainly. "You?"

"Same, but this is the first time I've seen you. I thought you were still snoozing at the hotel room?" Gray quizzed.

Lucy recalled that she had only been at the festival for a short time and said, "Yeah, but I woke up and decided to walk around. Then I met up with Happy and we were just heading back to the-"

Suddenly, Gray jolted up as if he remembered something and gave her an irritated scowl and said, "That reminds me! What the _hell_ happened to the bathroom?! I stopped by earlier and the mirror's all smashed and there was blood on the sink!"

Knowing she was caught, Lucy gave a nervous laugh. "Uhm…it was an accident I swear…" she said sheepishly.

"An accident?! Those rooms were free with the job payment and now we're gonna owe _them_ money, idiot!"

"OK, OK, sorry! Stop PMSing already, I'll pay for it…"

"What'd you say, flamehead?!" Gray looked about ready to knock her out.

Lucy shivered fearfully. All this time she was trying to act like how Natsu would towards Gray but forgot that the results of their arguing were usually brawls. She'd have to do better to remember not to pluck too many nerves next time! "Nothing! Nothing! Just kidding Gray! Liven up!"

Gray gave a questioning look. He relaxed his fists hesitantly and said, "Yeah…I guess."

Happy was finally cured of his dizziness and floated into the air above the two. "Yeah, Gray! This is a big party! And Natsu and I were about to go to the hot springs!"

"Really now?" Gray raised an eyebrow.

"No we weren't!" Lucy interjected.

Gray put his hands on his hips and smirked. "Hmm. Sounds good. I think I'll have one too."

"Yay! Fun!" Happy somersaulted in the air. Lucy however already swore she wasn't gonna bathe in her new body. The next worst thing would be to sit around a bunch of naked guys too! _I'm still a LADY for goodness sake!_

Lucy cut in between the two and couldn't help that her voice was shaking when she said, "Y-Y'know _a-actually, _I-I was just g-going to bed, but you g-guys go have fun…" She turned on her heal and tried to quickly walk away but a hand reached out and grabbed the end of her scarf, ultimately choking her.

"Ohhhh no you don't. I'm not gonna let you stink up the whole room tonight. Don't forget _I've_ got to sleep in there too," Gray lectured.

"But I've already showered!" she lied while trying to loosen the scarf desperately.

"Really?" Happy questioned and took a whiff of his body. He quickly covered his nose and muffled, "You could've fooled me."

Gray sniffed Natsu's body too, much to Lucy's discomfort. "Yeah, let's go ya stink-flame."

Lucy cried out in objection but Gray was already dragging her against her will and to her doom.

* * *

><p>At another part of the festival, colorful lights were gleaming and the music was fast paced. Among the crowd of people walked a familiar blonde haired girl wearing blue, white and comfortable black sandals. "Man, I can't believe I'm already full!" Natsu exclaimed, disappointed. He rubbed his sore belly as he walked away from the last food stand he hit. It was so different not being able to eat more than a few dishes of food.<p>

"This body's so lameee," he said more to himself than to anyone, but sparked a response from a passerby.

"It looks great to me, babe."

Natsu stopped and turned to look at the guy he just passed. He recalled that Lucy said that if someone tried to hit on him he should walk away, but only if the guy was ugly. If he was cute he needed to ask for his phone number. Natsu examined this guy, but he couldn't tell if Lucy would think he was attractive. He was like, thirty (he guessed) with a brown beard and square glasses. He wasn't muscular and looked like he had no redeeming qualities. _But would Lucy think he's _cute_?_ Then the dude smiled. He also had crooked teeth but Natsu thought _Hey, maybe that's the kind of guy Lucy would go for?_

He decided he was OK and made a cute peace sign with his fingers and winked. "Thanks! Tehe!" The guy nearly fainted from the radiating cuteness and Natsu walked off laughing. "This is just way too fun…"

Natsu was very pleased and thought it was just like Lucy would've done_…only better. _She would've been proud.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, sitting at a small desert booth, Erza was trying the various vegetable cakes and sweets available. She had been there for some time and while most of the time she was just enjoying the cakes, she also offered the nervous owners of the table to slice the biggest cake with her swords. Stunned, neither husband nor wife replied as Erza went ahead a cut the cake into perfect sections. However, to their surprise, she took a third for herself.<p>

"Ms. Erza!"

The call triggered Erza to almost choke on her cake but she recovered quickly. She wasn't entirely sure who had called her until a giant red ball reformed into a red-suited man and took the seat beside her.

"Hello, ," she greeted, already used to his strange entrances.

"Hello," he returned the favor and grinned. "Tomato?"

"Thank you." Erza placed the fruit on the table while continued. Their sort of strange relationship almost reminded her of a book where a girl met a character named the Mad Hatter. She couldn't remember the name though.

"Well, I would say this is a surprise meeting you here but I've seen you over at this booth ever since the festival began!"

Erza involuntarily blushed. "Oh, I um…" she began apologetically.

"No, no it's quite alright," the man laughed. "I see you like the vegetable cakes very much."

"Yes sir, I find this to be the best-tasting carrot cake I've ever had," Erza replied pleasantly. She patted her mouth as she finished and brushed off the teensy little crumb on her skirt. "I've requested a truck load to be shipped to my guild. I'm sure everyone will love them.

"Good, good! Well anyway I wanted to let you know that this year's harvest festival was a huge success and it's all thanks to the help of you Fairy Tail wizards."

She smiled and gave a proper thanks. "It's very kind of you to offer us rooms as well."

"It's no trouble." He put a kind hand on her shoulder and said, "You know our hotel has relaxing hot springs. You should go stop by sometime during your stay. It's free so just think of it as reward for your hard work."

Erza didn't think too much about it and said, "That's a kind offer, . Thank you."

They said their goodbyes and arranged for one last meet up in the morning before they left. Erza made sure to enjoy a few more cakes before setting off in the crowd to find Lucy so they could enjoy a relaxing girl's bath.

* * *

><p>"…aren't you going to change?" Gray asked. He raised his eyebrow in utter confusion, for even though he stripped at very inappropriate times (and quite often) he also knew when one <em>should<em> take their clothes off.

The ice mage was directing his question to the dragon slayer who was sitting across from him in the same bath. The guy was still completely dressed while in the steamy water. Not to mention facing the other direction for some reason.

"I'm fine…" was all the guy mumbled and Gray just left him alone.

* * *

><p>Natsu flinched when more aromas of food hit his girly nose and he forced himself to walk on. He held his stuffed stomach and grumbled. "I've really got to stop trying to eat so much food..." After finally getting farther away from the crowds he let out a sigh. After walking around alone for the past few hours he felt like something was missing besides the many, many meals he should've been able to eat… but what? Without putting much thought into it he realized <em>who<em> was missing as the figure flew up to him. "Happy!" He exclaimed smiling. _There_ was his familiar blue companion! His best bud!

"Lucy!" The blue cat voiced as he nuzzled into his chest innocently. Natsu hesitated at the addressed name but still patted his little blue head with welcome.

"What's up?" He asked lightheartedly.

"Lucy! Let's go soak in the hot springs together!" Happy cheered with enthusiasm.

Natsu didn't need a moment to think before yelling "Sure!" in excited agreement. He had almost forgotten about the free baths! But of course that was the whole reason for coming on this mission so he never really forgot. It just slipped his mind with all that's been going on. However, while remembering the true reason he thought it would be right to ask if Lucy was enjoying herself.

"So, Happy, do you know if _Natsu's_ in the hot springs too?" He emphasized his name a little too much but he would rather say the correct name instead of risk slipping up.

Happy failed to notice and while floating above he nodded. "Yeah, he's with Gray. I almost went with them but I wanted to take a bath with you, Lucy!"

Natsu smiled contently. That was good news. At least Lucy was finally able to relax. Also, with everything _he's_ been going through a hot bath was very appealing. "Sounds good. Let's go," Natsu said finally. Instead of cutting through the bustling crowds they decided to head down the less crowded streets that led to the springs. So it was by coincidence that they happened to meet up with their fellow teammate, Titania.

"What brings you two over here?" Erza asked curiously upon rejoining her friends. "Most people are at the festival."

"Yeah, we were just heading to the hot springs," Natsu answered.

"What about you, Erza?" Happy added.

Erza smiled approvingly. "I was actually going to head to the hot springs as well and hoped to run in to you, Lucy. We can go together," Erza stated more than asked. After hearing that, Natsu blushed and looked away feebly, remembering their past "bath times." He apparently didn't hide it well as Erza inquired, "Is there a problem with having some girl-time?"

Natsu couldn't hold a flame to Erza in his old body and felt even more vulnerable now. He could barely form the words, "N-n-no t-thanks, Erza. I'm f-fine- "Eep!" He squealed as Erza put a stiff hand on his shoulder.

"What was that?" she asked simply but the words turned Natsu into a wet blanket. "I didn't hear you."

_There's no point in fighting it Natsu! There's no way out! _"What I said _was_ that's no problem at all! T-thanks, Erza! That's fine with me!" Natsu shivered uncontrollably. True, that's basically what he said, but originally it meant "get the hell away from me," but nicer and without the death-wish.

"Splendid." Erza said finally, not noticing Natsu's inner turmoil. "You're welcome to come along as well, Happy."

"Aye!"

"Aye…" Natsu said with much less splendor. He had given up on resisting and walked nervously alongside Titania. All in all, he hated baths now more than ever and only hoped Lucy was in a much better situation than he was.

* * *

><p>"Achoo!" Lucy sneezed and sniffed uncomfortably. <em>Maybe it's time to get out now.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the late chapter! I'm on spring break now and hope to write as much as I can!<strong>

**And thanks again for everyone who reviewed even after I hadn't updated for a while! You rock!**


	7. Promises to Keep

Copyright: I have in no way shape or form any ability to poses the awesomeness that is Fairy Tail. All hail Hiro Mashima!

**Switched**

**Chapter 7: Promises to Keep**

Lucy and Natsu couldn't help but feel more relaxed as they walked through the Magnolia Park. Spring flowers were in bloom and the light wind blew away much of their built up stress. Between them both, strolling in the park like this had never been more appreciated; just the freedom and wide openness of nature put them at ease. As soon as the train arrived from their last mission's destination back to Magnolia, Erza and Gray headed to their respective homes and Happy was more than eager to return to Carla's company at the guild. The train ride had worn Lucy down from the hours of tormented nausea but she still persistently insisted on taking a walk with Natsu. It would be their first chance to get some air and relief from having to put up an act around their teammates.

Lucy's queasy stomach calmed down by the time the two entered the park and she stretched her muscled arms above her head in relief. "Finally, some time to relax and breathe!" At her side Natsu collectively kept pace with her while they walked on the path winding through the park.

"We can finally talk openly about our…situation," Lucy summed up for lack of a better word, "without the others around, I mean. Although, I have to admit that for our first team mission we did a good job at keeping this covered up." Reflecting back on the mission reminded her that it was by some miracle that her teammates didn't suspect anything or even notice their strange behavior. Lucy surveyed that although there was always the possibility that the others _did_ pick up on something, they didn't mention it. As a matter of fact Gray, Erza, and Happy treated them each about the same as always.

Natsu bitterly kicked a stone in his way on the path. "There's not much to talk about, is there? Not unless you have any ideas on how to change us back to normal," he replied wryly. Lucy puffed, annoyed.

"Jeez, that's a nice attitude, Natsu," she replied dryly, not taking her thoughtful eyes off the path ahead of them. "And when you put it that way, then no, I don't. But we still need _some_ sort of plan of action. I hope I'm not just speaking for myself but how long can you put up with this? We're at a roadblock here."

Natsu clenched his fists heatedly. "I'm sick of this! Let's just find that author guy, wail him with the freakin' book and make him fix this! How's that for a plan of action?" he fumed in outrage. He wanted to punch that so-called invisible roadblock into pile of flaming scraps; anything to bypass it. They truly were getting nowhere, and at this rate he'd be stuck in this new body for a long time.

Lucy deadpanned at his brash, overexcited imagination. "Don't tell me you seriously think that would work? Besides it's not like we have the whole book anyway or we wouldn't be stuck at all," she tried to reason. Of course she knew, just as well as him, how frustrating it was to suddenly switched bodies. No one could have expected that to happen, but planning unrealistic tactics wouldn't help them at all either. Even though the road to undoing the spell would likely be tedious, they still needed to focus on what possibilities could aid them.

"I can't just sit around and let that guy run our lives!" Natsu lashed out. "I don't give a crap who the hell he is anyway! And screw finding the stupid pages to some dumb book. That's a waste of time!"

Lucy sighed, wholeheartedly agreeing with him. Spiritlessly she replied, "I understand that, but these are the cards we've been given, Natsu. Locating all of the book's pages, even if there are hundreds of them, may be our only option if we want things to go back to the way they were." She looked up into the clouds in dismay. The odds were against them and there was a sting of hopelessness in her heart.

"And how long would that take? There _has_ to be another way!" Natsu fought despite the lingering hopelessness.

Slowing down in her tracks, Lucy pondered the suggestion analytically. "You mean returning to normal _without_ collecting all of the pages?" Lucy's brain scanned over the possibility. She hadn't considered that they even try to bend the rules of the book... but was there some out to all of this? Natsu eyed her with unwavering determination in his brown orbs, convincing her of so.

"Yeah…maybe there's a loophole we can find in this scheme." Lucy concluded. Given enough determination perhaps they could stretch the possibilities. "It's possible that we're overlooking a key detail and can plan around it. However, even if there is something else we can do, it'll likely depend on magic."

"Why do suppose that?"

"I'm almost certain." Lucy held her chin quizzically. "Think about it. It must've taken quite a bit of magical power to perform the spell that changed us. I'm not positive on this, but assuming that once a spell lies dormant in an object for a while- in our case a book- the spell probably had some strong magic keeping it active all this time. So in return, we'll probably have to use magic to reverse it. I doubt that even finding all of the missing pages would be enough. There's probably some catch at the end."

Natsu smirked devilishly and punched his fist into his hand. "Sounds simple, enough. After all, we're not called Fairy Tail wizards for show. Magic's no problem."

Lucy could practically feel the naivety radiating from him. "Of course, Natsu. But let's not pretend to even know the mechanics of each other's magic, alright? That's assuming we can still use magic, anyway."

Natsu beamed fiercely. "Then don't assume! Let's finally do a test run!"

The mere suggestion made Lucy more nervous than eager. She wasn't sure what would happen if they tried to use magic, which scared her. Would they still have their respective abilities or would those be switched as well? So much was uncertain, but prolonging the trial wouldn't help their situation. After all, magic would probably be very crucial in hopes to regaining their proper bodies.

"Well…I am curious too." She looked around the park. No one seemed to be in sight or close range, in case something went wrong.

Lucy brought her calloused hands up and looked at them thoughtfully before clenching them into tight fists. "Honestly, ever since we switched bodies…I've felt intense power." She lingered thoughtfully, hesitantly. "I didn't mention it to you at first because I wasn't sure what to think of it. It's _magic _but it feels so…so different; almost like a burning energy of some sort." She locked eyes with her companion who seemed to understand that power all too well. "I don't know if I can even use your magic but I'm certain that this coursing energy…this truly is your dragon slayer magic, Natsu."

Natsu felt his chest rise with pride. Hearing that the fire dragon slayer art Igneel taught him could be experienced firsthand by his best friend would be a once in a lifetime experience. Of course he wouldn't wish this experience on anyone, but he couldn't help but feel immense happiness. Despite all that's went wrong since their switch, he was glad that she could feel such appreciation for this magic. Besides for his white scarf, dragon slayer magic was his most cherished gift from his father.

Natsu pumped his fists excitedly, more than ready to get a move on. "Then let's get started! Throw some iron punches and test those guns!"

The pink haired wizard nodded and closed her eyes in preparation, blocking out any distractions around her. She focused her thoughts solely on the flaming magic rising within her, building it up to its potential. The heat quickly began towering within her body and she almost felt like she was going to explode from the pressure. "I can feel it…this strength…this fire...this magic!" With her feet firmly grounding her she threw herself into a blazing move she had seen in action so many times before. Unwavering, she lunged forward. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Shouting loud and clear as she leaned into the blow, fire shot out from her arm and burnt forward with such force that the flames stretched several yards ahead and into the space above an open field. She held the stance letting the magic flow out in the powerful blast until she used her own willpower to put out the shooting flames.

"That's what I'm talkin' about! Bring the heat!" Natsu cheered frantically. Lucy grinned back toothily and grasped her arm over the red Fairy Tail tattoo tenderly.

"This surge is incredible! It's exciting, but perhaps I shouldn't get too carried away," Lucy admitted truthfully. The thrill was fun but she reminded herself that dragon slayer magic shouldn't be used without purpose. She could see how Natsu would easily lose control of this power because it did have a destructive nature to it.

While Lucy was in thought Natsu's hands immediately shot at the clanking keys on his belt, detaching three at random. "Alright! Now I'll give it a shot!"

Before Lucy could protest at his idiotic urgency to open a whopping_ three_ gates, a tall glowing flash of light appeared between them. Simultaneously as Natsu began to open the gates, a familiarly suited spirit appeared and launched himself directly at Natsu.

"I open these three gates things!"

"No! Stop!"

Loke shouted in protest but before he could prevent the attempt, three more flashes of golden light appeared close by. The zodiac spirits Cancer, Sagittarius, and Virgo were at momentary standby, uncertain to why they had been summoned. Surveying the environment promptly, they realized that there was no nearby threat or battle underway.

As soon as the spirits materialized Natsu suddenly dropped heavily to the ground. Through all of the chaos, Lucy caught the utterly pained look on his sneering face before he laid out, clutching the grass beneath him. He looked as if he'd taken a harsh blow to the gut and began groaning weakly.

"Natsu!"

"I was expecting a punishment, but are you in need of assistance, Princess?" Virgo inquired to the girl.

"I'm not….a princess." Natsu stubbornly wheezed out as he couldn't find the strength to even move. Loke jumped to his side and carefully helped him sit up. Moments later, Cancer, Sagittarius, and Virgo vanished with just as quick of a sparkling fashion as they came.

Loke squeezed Natsu's shoulders roughly. "_Think_ first before you do something that freaking stupid, Natsu! Are you trying to put Lucy in harm's way?" The lion roared spitefully at the weakened blonde.

"Loke!" Lucy didn't know how to react but as the initial shock subsided, she got a grip of the situation. Although she didn't understand what had happened, she knew something was wrong. In concern, she jumped to her friends' side immediately. One of which looked seriously troubled and the other in a heap on the grass. "What's going on, Loke? You weren't summoned!"

The lion spirit looked sternly up to the worried and confused pink haired wizard. "I came here of my own free will. I could sense from where I was in the spirit world that you were in danger, Lucy." The firmness in his voice alerted her that his unwavering gaze was aimed at _her_ instead of addressing Natsu. Which could only mean…

"But… H-How did you know that Natsu and I….that we-!" Lucy stammered clumsily without thinking.

The spirit let out a heavy sigh, still supporting the trembling blonde in front of him. "Honestly Lucy, I felt something had changed about you through are bond- quite a while ago." Loke's voice wavered as he held back regret and shame. "I'm deeply sorry that the reason I didn't come to check on you sooner was because I couldn't reach you properly. I was stuck in the spirit world."

Lucy knelt to her spirit in alarm. "What do you mean, Loke? How could that be?"

Loke locked eyes with her, in earnest trying to help her understand. "I mean that temporarily it seemed my gate wouldn't open for me to get to where you were at the time." He broke his stare and glanced down to the body of his master. "The trouble with it has to do with this guy right here."

Before Lucy could question anymore about the spirit's sudden appearance or about the trouble he was having with the gate, she had to make one thing clear. "So Loke, you know Natsu and I have…." She paused uncertainly, afraid of even saying it aloud. "…switched bodies?" she finished in a hushed tone.

Loke nodded with all seriousness. "I'm aware of the situation now, yes." He noticed that Lucy let out a tortured sigh, feeling relieved that someone finally knew.

Loke tried to crack a grin in hopes of comforting her. "You two sure do know how to get yourselves into messes," he carried off. Quickly he returned to thinking about the urgency of the situation and how it was affecting his friend and partner. "I'm sure it wasn't you're fault, Lucy," he said sympathetically.

"If anyone's to blame for this mess it's the spell-caster that caused this to happen." Lucy snorted in agreement before finally sitting down on the grass field.

Loke hesitated thoughtfully. "I'm not familiar with specifics of what went down between you, Natsu, and whoever did this…" Loke started carefully before his voice went rigid. "But I can tell you that the situation is much more dangerous that you probably think. Just look at him, Lucy." Loke motioned to the blonde lying down with aching discomfort still written on his face. He was still fighting the spreading pain he felt all over his body.

Lucy pouted with lingering concern at her friend's state but still attempted to reason his condition for herself. "Obviously, the problem is that he opened three zodiac gates at once. No wonder he's tired."

Natsu flinched as his muscles attempted to support him to even sit up but he mustered up enough strength to speak instead producing irritable groans. "Yeah, Loke…" he breathed heavily between words. "I'm just….just not used….used to this sparkly magic….stuff yet," he replied with hints of stubbornness. Lucy looked over him sadly, guessing that he felt a bit insulted about them talking about his weakened state.

"That's not it! Admit it, Natsu, you can't even stand up can you?" Loke retorted fiercely. Alarmed at his outburst, Lucy looked between the two with concern. Loke seemed honestly angry at the situation and she couldn't figure out how any of this added up. But seeing Natsu's defeated demeanor, she knew that Loke was right to be concerned. Natsu looked too pained to even budge.

"Just give me a minute…" Natsu shakily replied. His efforts to muster up any strength were just too painful to continue but he didn't want them to know just how badly it hurt.; he had more pride than that. However, just the action of his chest rising and lungs filling with air was a struggle itself, making his breaths short and desperate.

"You see, he's worn out," Loke concluded dryly as the blonde was still trying to make an effort to prove them wrong. "Partially because he summoned several spirits at one go, which is a foolish move even in emergencies but that's beside the point. The fact of the matter is that Celestial magic is draining Natsu so greatly that even_ I_ can feel it." Loke grasped at his chest. It wasn't much but he could still sense the depletion.

Lucy gasped in disbelief. "Do you know why this is happening?"

Loke nodded thoughtfully, building up an explanation. "It's the nature of Celestial magic itself, Lucy, so I'll inform you of what information I've gathered." Loke squeezed Natsu's shoulder to get his attention before moving on. "For your sake Natsu, I'll be plain and explain this as simply as I can. Maybe it'll even distract you from the discomfort for a bit so listen well. OK?"

"I'll try to be brief so I'll start from the beginning. Lucy, a while back we made a contract together. I became your loyal partner and you obtained my gate key from which you could summon me at any time. In emergencies I have the ability to open my own gate since I have developed that strength. However, most gates can only be summoned by the magic of the Celestial wizard." Loke motioned Natsu again. "If you understand that much Natsu, I'll continue and start to cover the issue at hand." The blonde only grunted in response, letting Loke know he was still listening, if barely.

"When a Celestial wizard such as yourself, Lucy, makes a contract with a spirit, the two share a bond. The spirit, or soul rather, of the mage is connected to the Celestial spirit itself. When summoned, the spirit, be it a member of the zodiac or any other key, will appear at the wizard's side for the duration of a limited time."

Loke paused and gave Lucy a chance to interject, anticipating such. "I think even Natsu should be able to understand that much, but what you've told us so far is basic Celestial spirit knowledge, Loke."

"But if you can be reminded of that much then it'll be easier to understand what I'm about to explain." The desperate intensity in Loke's words gave Lucy chills. Unwavering and with all seriousness Loke continued. "Listen up, Natsu, because in all honesty, your life's on the line here too. The spirits contracted with Lucy can only be summoned when you and she are in close distance. If you're far enough apart the gates won't open at all."

Natsu lifted his head groggily to turn and face the spirit. "H-huh?" he managed to breathe out weakly. Through the pain he could only catch bits and pieces of what Loke was saying but still collected the last sum of stuff he said.

"How can that be?" Lucy questioned doubtfully. "I've never had an issue opening the gates unless I was completely drained of magic. So why now?"

Loke reminisced, piecing it all together. "Remember when I told you that I tried to open my gate, Lucy? And I still couldn't get through even of my own free will? That's because you and him weren't in close enough distance. I'm not even precisely sure how close you have to be for it to work."

Natsu furrowed his eyebrows in struggling thoughts, straining to remember details and locations from the last two days. "Yeah… I couldn't find Lucy at all during the festival yesterday so we were apart then. And we stayed in separate rooms at the hotel…," his voice carried off.

"Hold it, you guys," Lucy inquired, "Natsu and I were around each other for hours at a time before the festival. So what about during those intervals? The gate still wouldn't open?" Lucy was trying to add up everything Loke was saying but this much didn't make sense to her.

Loke watched her with understanding for her confusion and his eyes revealed brief dilemma while he tried to choose his words carefully. "At that time, before you departed on your mission, I was extremely worried." Saddened, he could only face Lucy with pained expression. "For a while… I could barely feel a spiritual presence from you, Lucy. I couldn't believe it. It was hard to imagine what could've happen to cause that rift, but I sensed you weren't… _gone entirely_," Loke phrased it gently. He didn't want to outright say he feared that she was _dead_ since that would be too harsh of a word. Even though it was true and the sudden change startled him into expecting the worst.

"Thankfully, it was not long after that I could finally sense your spirit again, Lucy. Looking back now, I can only assume that around that time both of your spirits were still settling into your opposite bodies. You probably felt very little magic gain at first but not to a complete supply. But anyway, there was still a sort of void preventing me passage and I couldn't reach you because of this. As soon as I felt something was wrong I tried desperately to open my gate to get to you. Only recently did it feel like my gate was accessible again. And so here I am."

Lucy smiled warmly with deep appreciation for her caring spirit. Leave it to Loke to figure this all out, even assuming correct about the bits on their magical power change. She clenched her fist at the thought. "Up until now I felt a steady increase in magical power but you're right, at the beginning it was almost vacant." Lucy collected that much but still needed an explanation for another item Loke mentioned before matter-of-factly. "Why do Natsu and I have to be close for the gates to open?"

"Like I said, normally the summoned spirit would always appear at the side of the mage. However with the changed circumstances…. It appears that the contracts you hold with your spirits, Lucy, are still in your possession. Troubling enough, they have not been given to Natsu but instead are shared between you and him." Loke noticed Lucy was having trouble absorbing the matter at hand despite the fact that it was coming from her most loyal of spirits. "It sounds impossible, I know. But I'm certain."

Loke's eyes followed back to the blonde laying on the ground facing the fields in thought. He knew Natsu's pain had probably subsided a bit more, giving him enough strength to hold a conversation or at least answer a question for him. "Natsu can you use any dragon slayer magic at all now?"

The blonde's eyes lit up at the thought but after heavy consideration he mumbled a bit, sourly. "Don't think so. I can't feel it anymore. My magic's completely changed."

"I expected that much. Lucy, in your case, although Virgo, Sagittarius, and Cancer were summoned only briefly, did you sense their gates with your own magic?"

Lucy was a bit taken back by the question but thought it over, trying to remember anything she sensed during that time. After a moment she hesitantly replied "I-I think I did, yeah. But I thought I was imagining it…" She remembered that during all of the chaos there was that familiar feeling a Celestial gate opening but she assumed that it was merely just the close proximity to so many spirits that she felt. She had to admit though it felt almost _too_ familiar. "It all happened so fast…but the connection was still there."

"It's true then," Loke concluded right away. "You merely felt their presence, their opening gates, perhaps at the very slight cost of some of your own magic. But the summoning itself took most of its toll on Natsu-"

"I don't get this at all!" Natsu bellowed in frustration. All of this spirit talk was beyond him and the only thing he wanted to know was a straight answer to why he felt so crappy all of a sudden. It felt like a huge portion of magic drained from him so quickly, leaving him next to paralyzed.

Loke scratched the back of his head apologetically and broke out a meek smile. "Sorry, Natsu. I'll be blunter although it's not in my nature. I find it's not really a good trait to have around the ladies."

Pushing jokes aside Loke stiffened up once more, eyeing his friends sternly with hints of concern. "However, you both need to know that from here on out you can't be careless. Even being risky can be dangerous so try to avoid situations that call you to do so. Again, the contracts Lucy holds with her spirits have not transferred completely to Natsu unlike how Natsu's dragon slayer magic has stayed with Lucy. After all, a Celestial contract is made between the spirit of the mage and the spirit itself. But even so, the spirit arrives into this world next to the physical body of the mage. Natsu, who now resides in Lucy's body, will have the ability to summon spirits and make them appear with him even though Lucy's the one who made the initial contracts. The issue is that Lucy's own spirit, unfortunately, is no longer in her proper body. You both need to be in each other's presence for a summoning to be successful. Natsu's spirit, which did not form contracts, needs Lucy nearby for any of the gates to appear."

"And most importantly, the strain of magic output will be much greater than normal, as Natsu, who isn't a celestial mage, tries to keep the gates open. If the situation is bad enough, Lucy may suffer if Natsu's magic is completely drained. If it comes down to that, I'm not sure exactly what would happen to either of you."

"You sayin' I'm weak?" Natsu retorted, taking the last of Loke's speech as an insult.

"Of course not, but you are very limited in this state, Natsu…." Loke looked to the side, feeling a bit at a loss for words. "I mean no offense at all, Lucy, so please don't feel insulted. But Natsu's higher tolerance for magic loss will help him the most while he's in your body. He can tolerate greater magical stress at drastic outputs." Loke didn't want to dodge the fact but thought the two should be aware of that detail. "I'm sorry. I'm not saying you can't handle yourself in your own right, Lucy."

In understanding, Lucy brushed off Loke's apologetic look, knowing he wasn't insulting her magical strength but stating a helpful fact. He was being so intuitive and resourceful so how could she take offense to a silly comparison like that. Natsu's one of the strongest mages at Fairy Tail so comparing them both didn't hurt her pride as a mage. And now she felt even more dedicated to keeping Natsu well, knowing that he was struggling so much.

She reviewed the facts and came up with their only sure-fire way to preserve Natsu's magic. "Opening three gates at once like that must've been difficult. Now I know how weakening it is for you… In that case, Natsu, it would be best that you don't use magic-"

"God, damn it!" a voice spat.

Startled, Loke and Lucy's focus veered directly to the outburst. Natsu had rolled to his side with his face hidden behind blonde hair. He grunted in his struggles and forcefully punched the dirt in blind determination before the two could figure out what he was doing. Panting and shaking all over, the mage found the power to rise from the ground. Summing up the strength to completely stand despite most of his magic energy being lost, Natsu gained his balance well enough to keep from tumbling back down again. His legs felt wobbly and he could barely stand straight but he wouldn't allow himself to fall again. Panting and out of breath, he still needed to make one thing clear.

"I promised…I promised her…"

Lucy looked to Natsu in disbelief. Was he mustering up all of that strength with just pure will power?! She knew he was the kind of guy that would push himself to his limits but that could do more harm than good. And thinking about his words she tried to recall any promises he had made to her recently…

"I said…I wouldn't let you get hurt! Whether you're in this body or not."

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><p><em>He smiled genuinely at his friend and helped her stand up, even though now she was towering over him when he stood. He gave a toothy grin. "Well, whether you're in this body or not, I still don't want you to get hurt. When we get our bodies back I want it to be just like before.<em>

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><p><em>Wait… but <em>that_ couldn't be what he was referring to was it…?_ In the circumstances she figured he was just lightly saying it but she remembered that soon after they realized they had switched bodies Natsu said something along the lines of a promise. She had merely brushed it off as Natsu being his go-getter self. But as a Celestial mage at heart, she knew that promises weren't just light words. They had meaning…had power…and could give people strength.

Natsu swayed momentarily and despite his efforts to regain his composure, fell to a knee.

"Natsu!" Lucy reached out for him. Instead of her grabbing him, he took hold of her shoulders and glared into her eyes, trying to forget the pain. "Even if I lose every ounce of magic in my body I will stand by that promise. It will be just like before."

For a moment they just sat there on the ground, letting Natsu's words sink in. Loke read the heaviness in the air and didn't want to break Natsu's admirable spirit. However Natsu needed to be reminded of how hard a promise like that would be to keep. "In any case…" he interrupted. "Lucy's right. Natsu, you could probably maintain holding one gate open for 10 minutes at the very most but that's probably the best you could rally up even with your high tolerance of magic loss. So don't be careless."

Wavering only by a fraction Natsu looked in Loke's direction, acknowledging the advice. "Yeah…" He hated having such narrow limits on his power, especially if a situation called for his strength. He promised to take care of Lucy and her body so the fact that he could be weakened so easily was annoying.

"By the way, I'm not sure how this whole 'switched bodies' thing will sit with the Spirit King," Loke began, changing the subject with tact in his voice. "It'll be best that he doesn't find out. In the worst case scenario he could cancel your contracts Lucy. He definitely has the power to do it. However, there's no knowing if he really would go that far to try to correct to balance between spirits and their mages."

Lucy nodded stiffly in understanding. "I see. Do my other spirits know what's happened to us?"

"No, no…" The leader of the zodiac let out a forced chuckle, trying to ease everyone's worry. Despite the fact that he revealed so much bad news, he didn't want to ruin Natsu and Lucy's hopes. They needed to stay positive and try their hardest against the odds. "I'll notify them of the _change_. And I'll make sure to warn them that if they're summoned, they better be ready to go full out since Natsu's magic won't be enough to hold their gates open very long."

The pink haired wizard smiled warmly, appreciating the comfort from her spirits. "Don't forget to tell them to keep our situation 'hush hush' from the Spirit King. Even though he could've been of help….That's too bad." Lucy finished weakly with dismay.

Loke wanted to ease away her disappointment. "Of course, my dear Lucy. Although we are all spirits, like the King himself, our loyalty truly lies with you."

"Thank you, Loke," she replied, flattered. Loke smiled charmingly before standing up to neatly brush any dirt from his suit. Sympathetically, he gave another look at the two, knee-to-knee on the ground. It was really too bad that his beautiful Lucy was reduced to this new body. He still wanted to playfully tease her and make her smile again but knew it'd be too awkward while she was in Natsu's body. Oh his poor Lucy!

"I wish there was more I could do. And I'm a bit conflicted about suggesting this idea…but perhaps Crux would be able to help you guys fix this mix up," Loke offered soundly.

Natsu groaned at the mere idea of summoning another spirit while he teetered on the edge of sanity. "I'm too tired to try again…," he admitted roughly.

Even though the situation was grim, Lucy was happy to see the two returning to their more heartfelt selves. Keeping all of the dread in the air wouldn't help them in the long run. She wanted to keep their hopes high, and with Loke's suggestion, the situation seemed a bit brighter. "When Natsu regains his strength we'll definitely try contacting Crux. He'd have to know something that could help us," she chimed.

Loke adjusted his collar and faced the beckoning sky, knowing he'd have to go back soon. "In that case, Lucy my wonderful, I will return to the spirit world and find him. I'll ask him to go ahead and start trying to get information so his gate won't be open for too long when you call."

"That'll save us a lot of time and energy," Lucy hummed. Lucy felt so happy to have the lion to assist her and Natsu in such a tough time. "Really, Loke. Thank you for everything."

Loke smirked, appreciating the praise but knowing it wasn't necessary. He didn't need the glory to assist his master simply because he loved her to pieces, just as she cared deeply for her spirits. He would do anything to help Lucy and it was an oath he took to the heart that very day they became partners…

"Before I go…" Loke began although his admiring gaze never left the sky. "I want you both to promise me that you won't open my gate."

Lucy nearly jumped from shock. How could he say something like that after swearing to support them? Her most loyal spirit was refusing to help any further?

"What?! But what if we need you, Loke? What then?" she voiced in disarray.

Loke swiftly faced the duo and smiled genuinely. "I'm not abandoning you, silly. It's just that if you ever need me, simply call to my gate and I will open it myself. There's no need for you to waste any magical power. You can't afford that so don't be reckless, you two."

"Hmm." Lucy nodded firmly in agreement to his point. She promised herself to make sure to preserve Natsu's magical energy as much as possible. There was no telling what would happen to either of them if his magic ran dry, and she didn't want to find out. Magic was like a life supply for wizards. They'd have to keep all of this in mind so that no matter what challenges they faced, they wouldn't use too much of it.

While Lucy was in thought Loke leaned nonchalantly down to Natsu's ear and whispered a hushed phrase. Natsu's eyes widened, taken back by the words but then squinted in understanding. He nodded carefully, confirming that the message had been received. At the last moment Lucy noticed the action but didn't mention it before Loke was already bidding farewell.

"Goodbye for now you two and good luc-"

"Loke!"

The spirit froze just in time to catch Natsu's call. Without missing a beat he slyly faced the blonde, awaiting Natsu's reasoning for stopping him. Lucy noticed immediately that the stares they gave each other were daring, as if beckoning one another with a silent challenge. A lion and a dragon; neither standing down.

"Do what you have to do," Natsu said finally. "I hope you will follow through with that."

Loke couldn't help but chuckle tastefully at the guy's response. It sounded like a remark he would expect from Natsu Dragneel but coming from Lucy's body it was just too comedic. "Of course. You know I will. Take care, guys."

And with that he vanished in a gleam of golden light, leaving the two mages alone in the world again. Lucy felt a slight ting to her heart. No one else knew about their situation anymore, and they'd have to continue putting up an act. She almost wished Loke had stuck around but she knew he needed to get back. He was already doing so much that she would feel uneasy about asking much more from him. And for that, she was grateful.

* * *

><p>"<em>If you really meant what you said about protecting Lucy, then I trust you to be aware of your weaknesses. Don't ignore warning signs and especially don't put her in danger by being reckless. Your lives are bound by the same thread now so if you screw up it'll cost you both. And if you make so much as one foolish mistake, if you're the reason she gets hurt, then I'll track you down find a way to force your soul out of her body myself."<em>

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><p>AN: Finally after sooo long I updated. My excuses are a combination of starting college and writer's block. But I finally have some ideas flowing now. If you've read this far, thanks for sticking around! I appreciate it and hope to make the next chapter sooner this time!


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